Overdose training helps fill gap in care

BY ERIKA NORTON
MILFORD — Chris Sorrentino stressed to his audience of mostly first responders that Naloxone is not a “miracle drug."
There's no guarantee it will work. And it's also not a substitute for emergency medical care. In any overdose crisis, 9-1-1 should always be called.
Sorrentino, case management supervisor for the Carbon-Monroe-Pike Drug and Alcohol Commission, presented online videos and answered questions at a free training session held Jan. 11 at the Pike County Training Center in Lord’s Valley. He explained how not only first responders but community members concerned about loved ones can get the lifesaving drug and use it in the state of Pennsylvania. About 40 people walked out of the training center with Narcan, the most common brand name of Naloxone, a nasal spray that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
Sorrentino compared administering Narcan to using CPR, in that it will buy the person time before professionals can get to the scene of an overdose — something first responders are seeing more and more of in Pike County.
“The reason why there’s been a big push to get Narcan in the hands of people in the community," he said. "We’ve seen over the last 10 years, 15 years — the majority of the time I’ve worked over at the commission, and that’s been about 18 years — that the heroin and opiate epidemic has been growing increasingly, not just in the three counties that we cover, but all across the state.”
According to the state Department of Health, one in four families in Pennsylvania deal with addiction. And nationwide, Sorrentino said, about 85 percent of those who administer Naloxone are treating people they know.
PA Act 139To address this growing issue, PA Act 139 grants immunity from criminal prosecution and civil liability to first responders and others who administer Naloxone to an individual they believe is suffering an opioid-related overdose “in good faith and with reasonable care,” and who promptly seeks additional medical assistance. The law allows not only first responders but family and friends to get a prescription for Naloxone from their family doctor or by using the standing order issued by the Pennsylvania Physician General.
After viewing the training video on the Pennsylvania Department of Health website at an approved training site, participants receive a certificate. The certificate isn't needed to purchase Naloxone, but it is needed to meet the immunity requirements of PA Act 139.
Who’s at risk?People at risk of an opioid overdose are those using various opiates, whether prescription medications or heroin. Using street drugs is like playing Russian roulette, Sorrentino said. Heroin which can vary in purity, or might be laced with fentanyl, a drug administered after surgery that's 80 times more potent than morphine.
People who have just left drug or alcohol treatment programs, or prison, are also at risk, he said. If they relapse and use the amount they were using before, their tolerance is likely much lower and could result in an overdose.
“We also see very accidental type of stuff, like an individual who was prescribed these medications and the doctor overestimated their ability to take it, or people who are taking multiple types of medications and they get confused and they double up their doses,” Sorrentino said.
Often, it's the elderly who are affected, he said.
Young people may also find their way into their family medicine cabinet and experiment with opioids.
Sorrentino said the overdose may not be a straight heroin overdose but involve other medications used in addition to the opiates, like benzodiazepines, such as xanax, klonopin, diazepam, ativan, that suppress the respiratory system. But the Narcan will only work to reverse an opioid overdose.
Getting treatment in Pike CountySorrentino said the challenge in Pike County is the lack of a hospital. The Carbon-Monroe-Pike Drug and Alcohol Commission has sent information about to all of the hospitals Pike residents may go to.
It's also hard to gauge the opioid problem in Pike County because number of overdose deaths come from hospitals. The commission works with Catholic Social Services in Milford and Pyramid Healthcare, the main provider in Monroe and Carbon Counties, is looking to add a location in Pike.
“We are the agency that helps people get into treatment and get their treatment paid for if they don’t have insurance,” Sorrentino said about the Commission. “So if any individuals don’t have health insurance, provided that they meet some income guidelines, we might be able to help them get into either outpatient treatment or inpatient treatment where they won't be paying much or maybe not at all.”
The number for the Carbon-Monroe-Pike Drug and Alcohol Commission is 866-824-3578. Someone is on call around the clock.