Advocates warn ‘don’t use alone’ after 10 overdoses reported in Kenosha | Local News

Ten people overdosed on opioids in the city of Kenosha over a four-day period, all of them surviving after being revived with Narcan.

James Poltrock, division chief of emergency medical services for the Kenosha Fire Department, said paramedics were called to the 10 overdose cases between mid-day Thursday through the weekend.

Poltrock said seven of those people were revived by paramedics using Narcan, a medication used to counteract opioid overdose. Three people had been revived by family members or friends using Narcan before paramedics arrived.

Two of the calls in different areas of the city came within four minutes, Poltrock said.

He said the oldest victim was 64. The youngest 29. The majority were men.

“One person was found (unconscious) in a front yard. One person was slumped over in a car,” Poltrock said, saying that overdose victims are often found in cars parked on streets or in public parking lots. He said it is important for people in the public who see someone who is slumped in a car to call for help. “If you see something, say something. Call 911. Don’t wait,” he said.

The large number of overdoses over a short time in a relatively concentrated area of Kenosha has advocates on the Kenosha County Opioid Task Force concerned that a batch of strong, fentanyl or fentanyl analog-laced heroin may be being sold in the city.

“You don’t know what you are getting,” Kenosha County Medical Examiner Patrice Hall said, saying people who buy narcotics have no way of knowing the strength of the drug they are purchasing, especially with fentanyl and analogs being added to heroin.

She said, of the five confirmed overdose deaths in the county in 2019, four involved fentanyl or a fentanyl analog. Fentanyl is an opioid pain medication that is about 80 to 100 times more powerful than morphine.

Amanda Tuura, a public health nurse with the Kenosha County Health Department, works with people with addiction, including through the Vivitrol program that blocks the effects of opioids for people going through drug treatment.

Tuura said she urges drug users to make sure that, if they do use heroin, they don’t use in a place where no one will find them if they overdose. “Don’t use alone,” she said.

She said people who die of overdose are often found alone in locked bathrooms or in cars.

She said the AIDS Resource Center also has plans to begin distributing fentanyl test strips this spring that will help drug users know if heroin is laced with the stronger drug.

Kenosha County has been working to battle the opioid epidemic through programs ranging from treatment courts to counseling programs to peer advisors that work with people after they have been treated following an overdose.

The programs aim to help people overcome addiction.

But another major focus is saving people who are using drugs from overdose deaths. Since 2017, the county has used a grant-funded program to hand out free Narcan and do Narcan training sessions for anyone interested. The health department has trained organizations like police departments to use the drug, but has also trained family members and individuals concerned about people who are addicted. The Aids Resource Center of Wisconsin also distributes free Narcan from its Kenosha office.

Since 2017, the county has distributed 2,362 Narcan kits, according to Debbie Rueber, a health educator with the Kenosha County Health Department. People who have taken the kits have notified the department of 11 people saved, although more could have used the kits without reporting.

Hall said the Narcan distribution program saves lives and gives people who overdose another opportunity to overcome their addiction.

In 2018, Kenosha County did see a sharp decrease in overdose deaths. According to statistics from the medical examiner’s office, there were 46 drug overdose deaths in 2018, a 19 percent decline from the previous year.

Nationally, according to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control, overdose deaths fell 3.2 percent through September 2018, falling 4.6 percent during the same time period in Wisconsin.

Free Narcan and Narcan training is available by calling the Kenosha County Division of Health at 262-605-6741 or emailing narcan@kenoshacounty.org, or through the AIDS Resource Center at 262-657-6644 ext. 3004.

Help in finding treatment resources is available through the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Resource Center at 262-764-8555 or through Kenosha County Crisis at 262-657-7188 or 800-236-7188.