For the Reporter
The heroin and prescription opiate task force that King County Executive Dow Constantine and Seattle Mayor Ed Murray brought together last month is already taking action to reduce the number of fatal overdoses.
About 90 doses of naloxone – a nasal spray used to reverse the effects of heroin and opiate overdose – will be distributed to local treatment and housing providers where people receive assistance for mental illness and addiction, the task force said in a media release Fridday. It’s the first in what will be a series of recommendations by the task force representing the medical field, treatment providers, police and fire, hospitals, public health and other disciplines.
“This impressive lineup of experts is already recommending actions we can take now to save lives immediately,” Constantine said. “It demonstrates that we share a sense of urgency and a commitment to creating innovative solutions.”
Members of the task force – including the Kelley-Ross Pharmacy, the University of Washington’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute and the King County Department of Community and Human Services – are working with service providers to make the kits available immediately.
The task force is scheduled to deliver a comprehensive list of recommendations in September to confront the region’s growing heroin epidemic, though Executive Constantine and Mayor Murray encouraged members to act sooner if possible.
“When we stood up this task force, we asked for recommendations for early actions that could save lives today, as well as a comprehensive response to this national epidemic,” said Mayor Murray. “We will do more to prevent overdose deaths and prevent more from falling into chemical dependency.”
Constantine and Murray were joined by Renton Mayor Denis Law and Auburn Mayor Nancy Backus to announce the task force in March in response to the surge in deaths related to heroin and prescriptions opiates. In 2014, opiate overdose deaths were the highest ever recorded in King County – more than triple the number of deaths in 2009.
King County, Kelley-Ross Pharmacy and UW’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute sponsored a training last week to help case managers recognize the signs and symptoms of heroin and other opiate overdose, and provided a demonstration on how to administer the naloxone. Each kit, under the brand name Narcan, includes two doses of the nasal spray. While one is often enough to counteract the opiates, in some cases two doses are needed to regain consciousness, by which time emergency medical response will have arrived.
Multiple disciplines are seeing the sharp rise in heroin addiction, including emergency rooms, treatment centers, health clinics, hospitals and jails. By bringing experts from all those disciplines together, the task force can create a unified, coordinated approach so that they are working together to achieve the same outcome.
