Deborah Gates , dgates@delmarvanow.com
Dozens of community residents and university students could save a life tonight. Or tomorrow. Or the next day. They streamed into training sessions on the use of naloxone, a medication that if administered in time, could block the effects of opioids and prevent an overdose.
After the half-hour training on administering the medication, 69 participants left armed with a sample dose of Narcan, a brand of the nasal form of naloxone.
"I was surprised at the high turnout," said Marc Etonenkwelle, a student in the UMES graduate pharmacy program. "Most of them said they didn't know someone with an addiction, but they are ready to raise awareness and want to help."
Students in the UMES School of Pharmacy and Health Professions led Narcan sessions at the inaugural information exchange clinic on the dangers of opioids, which include common painkillers. The daylong clinic at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore attracted more than 100 people from the community and the campus family who interacted with experts on the "opioid epidemic" as well as other substance abuses.
The epidemic — as shown by the number of overdoses from prescription painkillers like morphine, methadone and fentanyl, as well as the illegal drug heroin — is not new. "But it has taken on a whole new face," said Dr. Robert Coker, medical director at Hudson Health Services Inc., and a program panelist.
"It's switched from something that was just in the city to something in the suburbs," said Coker, citing more than 30,000 deaths from opioids in the United States in 2015. "Once, the problem was among inner city youth, but it's in everyone's backyard now.
"It is a family disease, and there are things we can do about it," he also said.
Rev. Bryan Lloyd, pastor at SonRise Church-Salisbury Campus, and a recovering addict, reminded the audience that substance abuse crosses race, gender and socioeconomic lines. Knowing where and how to get help would be a clinic takeaway.
"I was a successful person" and "I was a heroin addict for 12 years," said Lloyd, a panelist. "People with addictions have no clue what to do."
Morning workshops and afternoon panels offered resources including treatment center options. Advice included responsible use of pain medications and educational tools for youth, parents and school officials.
Experts manned display booths along walkways and shared resources that ranged from the Maryland component of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence to the National Institute on Drug Abuse with smart choices in a world of legalized marijuana.
The Life Crisis Center offered information on anger management, medical and legal accompaniment and a hotline for crises as depression, suicide, child abuse and domestic violence.
The relationship between drug abuse and criminal acts has the attention of the court systems that factor in addiction during sentencing, said Kendra Hayward, assistant state's attorney in Somerset County. She cited theft and child abuse among crimes sometimes triggered by drug use.
"We look at cases when we apply laws," said Hayward. "There are sentencing recommendations for drug users. We are open to the discussion of treatment."
Rondall Allen, dean and professor in the UMES School of Pharmacy and Health Professions, told participants that three people would die from an opioid overdose "within the time it takes for you to complete one 45-minute workshop."
"Your very presence today is a powerful and vital step for our communities, state and nation to effectively combat the growing number of overdoses and deaths resulting from prescription and illicit opioid abuse," said Allen in opening remarks. "Since 1999, the number of overdose deaths involving prescription opioids, heroin and illicitly manufactured fentanyl have quadrupled."
Lauresa Wigfall, director of a UMES program on Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs, shared warning signs of illegal drug use and urged parents and educators to start conversations with children on the topic as early as grade school.
"Know the signs and symptoms of drug use, and try to have a conversation with your kids on drugs early on, as early as 8 years old," said Wigfall, citing sickness, vomiting and runny nose among telltale signs of potential drug use. "If you don't somebody else will."
Dr. Sid Barnes, chief of surgery at McCready Health in Crisfield, urged medical and health care professionals to consider non-opioid options and underscore the risks of addiction when prescribing medications to patients for pain.
"You have a right to be pain-free, but that will start the process of drug use," he said. McCready has started outpatient counseling on safe pain management, and Barnes announced that the Crisfield hospital, following models across the county, is exploring the use of "a new way to administer anesthesia without opioids."
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Posted By: How May I Help You NC
Monday, May 1st 2017 at 12:53AM
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