Opioid Overdose Coalition reports drop in opioid deaths so far this year
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Erin Straw, project director for the University of Pittsburgh’s Program Evaluation and Research Unit, presents data showing progress in Washington County’s fight against opioid overdoses. Straw was a speaker at the Washington Opioid Overdose Coalition’s quarterly meeting Wednesday.
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Jason Snyder, regional director of outpatient services for Pinnacle Treatment Centers, shared his story of addiction and recovery at Wednesday’s quarterly meeting of the Washington Opioid Overdose Coalition.
A recent report from the National Safety Council that shows Americans are more likely to die from an accidental opioid overdose than in a vehicle crash reveals how U.S. towns and cities are struggling to manage the opioid crisis.
But the Washington Opioid Overdose Coalition, which was formed in 2016 to fight the opioid epidemic, is showing progress is possible.
Washington County District Attorney Gene Vittone said at the coalition’s quarterly meeting on Wednesday that as of Feb. 27, there had been only one confirmed opioid-related death in Washington County so far this year. At this time in 2018, there were 17 deaths attributed to opioid overdoses.
Vittone credits the reduction in overdose deaths to the innovative programs implemented in the county and the efforts of coalition members.
“That’s representative of the work that’s been going on by the folks who have been working on this, and that’s what the value of the collaborative effort is,” said Vittone. “That’s a significant reduction in overdoses and deaths in Washington County, and that’s why it’s important to keep this work going.”
The coalition has implemented 25 initiatives aimed at reducing the demand for opioids and helping individuals enter into treatment and recovery.
They include:
- Partnering with first responders, law enforcement and others to provide naloxone, a drug that can save victims of opioid overdoses. Since the inception of the program, more than 3,0000 Narcan kits have been distributed to first responders and treatment centers throughout the county.
- Starting the Vivitrol Plus program that provides Washington County jail inmates with medication-assisted treatment during incarceration and after release.
- Education. The coalition has provided opioid education to more than 25,000 students in Washington County.
Erin Straw, project director for the University of Pittsburgh’s Program Evaluation and Research Unit (PERU), provided data related to the effectiveness of the coalition’s programs.
Among the significant statistics Straw noted was a 27 percent decrease in overdose deaths from 2017 to 2018.
“That’s huge,” said Straw. “That’s a really big deal because if you are seeing these drugs that are out in the community and in the systems, those are devastating and they are really hard to combat. And we are seeing that combat happening here.”
Washington County’s average rate of overdose deaths also is lower than the state average.
Straw also pointed out a shift in types of drugs found in overdose deaths. Fentanyl – the most prevalent – increased from 30 percent in 2015 to nearly 70 percent in 2017, which Vittone attributes to the cost of the drug.
Also Wednesday, Jason Snyder, regional director of outpatient services for Pinnacle Treatment Centers, shared his personal story about overcoming addiction.
Snyder, who has been in recovery for prescription drug addiction for more than seven years, lost his two brothers, Todd, 28, and Josh, 25, to heroin overdoses within about a two-year span.
The loss of his brothers “dismantled” his family, said Snyder.
Their deaths also proved that opioid addiction can happen in any family.
“We had a wonderful childhood. It was a pretty typical middle-income Western Pennsylvania family,” said Snyder, whose father was a lineman who coached their Little League baseball teams while his mother was a stay-at-home mom and the boys’ biggest fan. “In our minds, addiction didn’t happen to families like ours.”
But, treatment can work and recovery is possible, said Snyder.
He said he shares his story to help eliminate stigma and in the hope that he can help prevent another family from having to endure the pain of losing loved ones to overdose.
“My hope in telling my story is to destigmatize the disease. My story demonstrates that addiction can and does affect anyone,” he said. “But we also know that recovery is possible. I see it every day. I’m a proponent of using every tool available to address the disease of addiction.”