Reno County well being officers issued an alert on Friday that there have been 4 overdose deaths in Reno County over the previous seven days.
Three of the overdoses are suspected to be fentanyl-related.
Fentanyl is combined in with different substances, together with methamphetamine, heroin and faux capsules to make them stronger and addictive, mentioned Seth Dewey, Substance Misuse Well being Educator with the Reno County Well being Division.
“The rationale they put it in stimulants is that an individual taking stimulants has a distinct type of withdrawal, it’s a extra psychological withdrawal,” Dewey mentioned. “With opioids, which is stronger, there are psychological and precise bodily withdrawal signs. It brings them again for extra. It’s an unintentional dependancy. That’s driving the overdose disaster we’re in.”
Simply two milligrams of fentanyl will be deadly relying on an individual’s physique dimension, tolerance and previous utilization.
If somebody is killed by a drug they didn’t know they have been taking, Dewey mentioned, it ought to be categorized as a poisoning fairly than an overdose. The persevering with rise in fentanyl-tainted medication can also be an argument in favor of building protected consumption websites, Dewey urged.
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Reno County has been monitoring drug and alcohol overdoses and overdose deaths since October 2020.
This month’s deaths marked the very best whole variety of overdose deaths in a single month since that monitoring started.
It additionally confirmed a brand new spike in overdoses, which had been declining since October of final 12 months.
Dewey mentioned they’re nonetheless studying concerning the challenge.
“For some cause, we discover a dip in overdose round holidays,” he mentioned. “Final 12 months, we observed an analogous pattern, however then it picked up in February and March once more. Sadly for us, we’re on a trajectory for lots of overdoses.”
“It’s simply not wanting good given we’d had seven overdose deaths this 12 months to this point,” he mentioned.
Final 12 months there have been 20 the whole 12 months.
The overdose dashboard will be discovered at https://arcg.is/Ki9OX.
Dewey encourages neighborhood members to change into concerned by both becoming a member of the Reno County Collaborate or testing assets on the county’s web site.
Steps folks can take
The Reno Restoration Collaborative recommends the next steps and methods for the neighborhood:
- Encourage individuals who use substances to by no means use alone. A lot of the fatalities have been people utilizing alone and might need been prevented if help was close by.
- Examine in on buddies or household frequently that use substances
- Encourage extra folks to hold naloxone (Narcan)
- Data on Naloxone (Narcan) schooling, coaching and availability will be discovered at https://www.dccca.org/naloxone-program/
For extra native info, schooling and particular actions on substance misuse, or if you wish to get entangled contact Dewey at seth.dewey@renogov.org.
Therapy assets
Discover a therapy facility: https://findtreatment.gov/
Nationwide therapy line: 1-800-662-4357
Kansas Substance Use Dysfunction Therapy Referral line: 1-866-645-8216
Hutchinson Narcan Useful resource: https://hutchinsonnarcan.8b.io/
Crossover Restoration: 620-669-9024
SACK Detox Unit: 620-259-2063
Mirror: 620-665-7750
Breakthru: 620-218-0636
Restoration Response Staff: 620-663-7595
Disaster Line: 1-800-794-0163
Reno ASAP Alcohol and Drug Companies- 620-665-6446.