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02/14/2023 07:35 AMThe Quinnipiac Valley Health District (QVHD) will host two free education forums for Emergency Medical Service (EMS) providers and anyone interested in becoming more knowledgeable about drug treatment and response.
Both interested community members and hopeful EMS personnel will learn more in-depth about why some individuals develop drug addictions, the highly potent synthetic drugs circulating in the region, and the appropriate response and treatment for someone who has overdosed on a specific drug.
In support of such forums, QVHD applied for an Overdose Data to Action grant in 2020 from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, funded through the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH). The grant is allocated to health facilities to combat the ongoing drug epidemic in their regions through monitoring and identifying the local supply and use of drugs, establishing community-wide education on use trends, and optimal prevention and response tactics.
The forums will be led by Stephen Murray, an overdose researcher at Boston Medical Center and former Lieutenant for Northern Berkshire EMS in North Adams, Massachusetts. According to Kara Sepulveda of QVHD, Murray’s dual background in drugs made him the right person to lead the forums.
“He has his own lived experience with drug use. He’s also survived an overdose,” Sepulveda said. “So I thought it was a really unique perspective to bring to the table. He’s responded to overdoses … he’s also been the person on the other side of it — the patient. With EMS, the message is often better received from someone who’s lived that role.”
The forums are especially geared towards EMS providers, who can boost their continuing education credit for the response job imperative to drug treatment.
“We recognize that EMS’ have a huge role in responding to overdose and helping the people who use drugs in the community,” Sepulveea said.
However, the forums are also open to all community members wanting to learn more about local drug disturbances and helpful tactics for treatment and harm reduction.
“Everyone knows someone who uses drugs; everyone has a connection to the cause in one way or another,” Sepulveda said.
North Haven is no stranger to the devastating impact drug use can incur on its own community members. The DPH calculated 186 deaths by unintentional drug overdoses from 2015 to 2022, mostly due to opioids, including fentanyl.
The forums’ outline consists of four major objectives through which Murray will walk learners. According to QVHD, those objectives are to: “(i)Identify current drug supply issues and state the role of harm reduction plays in the health of people who use drugs, (i)dentify ways in which EMS providers can improve treatment outcomes for people who use drugs, explain the role of language, hand-off reporters, and documentation in treatment efficacy, and explain the role of EMS in community programs, public health, and combating fentanyl myths.”
According to Sepulveda, those who attend the sessions will be trained on “the most up-to-date information” on drug use trends in the area. Drugs such as xylazine, an animal tranquilizer normally used on horses and cattle, are being mixed into drugs like fentanyl. Xylazine and its mixture with fentanyl alone have contributed to 279 deaths in Connecticut, according to the DPH, and is “complicating the way we respond to overdoses,” said Sepulveda.
All forum attendees will learn the proper treatment for a person who has overdosed on this intense combination and that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to providing a reviving antidote.
“People picture overdose responses [as]... you give the naloxone, and they get this gasp of air, and they wake up. But with xylazine, it’s a long-acting sedative,” said Sepulveda. “We want EMS to make sure that they’re aware of xylazine and how it’s changing the way that we respond to overdose[s]. There’s not just one method, and we have to alter our response.”
As part of the second objective to be taught in the forum, EMS providers and others can apply what they’ve learned from the first objective to understand other effective treatment methods. For example, knowing if someone who has overdosed is still breathing and can receive oxygen would minimize the need for antidotes like naloxone, as heavy doses of the overdose-reversing drug can lead to painful withdrawals for opioid users.
Regarding the third component, Sepulveda said that using the right kind of language plays a significant role in drug treatment. The intended goal of learning the right words to use is to remove misconceptions and stigma to “humanize” the issue of drug use by people who use highly potent substances.
“A lot of people don’t understand or look at addiction as a chronic disease,” said Sepulveda. “We should be treating addiction like we treat any other chronic disease: with compassion, with empathy, and making sure people feel supported and safe.”
The final fourth objective will further undo other misconceptions that surround fentanyl and how EMS’ can provide the right resources and treatment for people who experience overdoses. It speaks to the overall goal of the forums for an EMS looking to improve upon their work and become more knowledgeable and for non-medical residents of North Haven to do the same.
“We just really want to be people to be educated, to feel informed, and to feel prepared to respond accordingly,” she said.
Registration for the education forums is available on QVHD’s website, with sessions being held on Thursday, Feb. 23, at North Haven Memorial Library, 17 Elm Street, from 6 to 8 p.m. and Tuesday, March 14.