LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — As Sullivan County bears the unfortunate distinction of recording the highest rate of drug overdose deaths per 100,000 people in New York State, Sullivan County Public Health officials are hoping that promises of looming economic growth will bolster resources dedicated to treatment, education and prevention of drug addiction.

The startling statistic from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s 2016 County Health Rankings Report was shared with members of the Sullivan West Community Task Force in a March 31 presentation.

Public Health Director Nancy McGraw attributed the county’s location as a “thruway” between the metropolitan and upstate regions, and having a “susceptible population” as contributing factors to that number-one ranking.

McGraw said that an “alarming spike” in drug overdoses in 2012 led to the creation of a task force on the county level that includes a mixture of professionals from the health care and law enforcement fields as well as “lots of volunteers from the community who are dedicated and committed.”

“Our objective is to raise awareness, track data and address the addiction problem in the county. We pool our resources and partner a lot. We want to be sure we’re doing what is effective and evidence-based,” she said.

Sullivan County Public Health Services initiated an Opioid Overdose Prevention Training Program three years ago that has resulted in its certified responders saving 44 lives out of 45 instances when the antidote Naloxone (commonly known as Narcan) was administered.

Doctors legally prescribe opioids such as Morphine and Oxycodone to treat pain, but these medications can become addictive. There are also illegal forms of opioid, such as heroin, that are used recreationally. Every day in the U.S., 46 people die from opioid overdoses.

In 2015 alone, the task force certified 100 professionals in the fields of law enforcement, emergency medical services, firefighters, school nurses and Sullivan County employees as Overdose Responders.

McGraw noted that Sullivan County Public Health Services targets these populations with a special curriculum, while The Recovery Center in Monticello offers Narcan training to other individuals and groups.

Catskill Regional Medical Center and Mobile Medic dispensed over 200 doses of Narcan in 2015, although outcome statistics are not available due to patient privacy laws.

Public health nurse Kate Freda demonstrated a Narcan kit in which a nasal atomizer is used to reverse an opioid-induced overdose. The Naloxone medication works by pushing the opiate off the receptor site in the brain that affects the ability to breathe.

“It’s very simple to use. If they respond positively to it, they will wake up within three to five minutes,” she said, adding that a dose of Naloxone causes no harm in cases where it’s not an opioid overdose, unless the person happens to be allergic to it.

The reversal lasts about 30 minutes, meaning that it’s critical to get the individual to a hospital for treatment for the immediate withdrawal that is experienced.

Addressing criminal liability, McGraw noted that New York’s “911 Good Samaritan” law provides certain protection from arrest for the victim and those who seek help during an overdose, though not for drug sales.

“It’s not the user that’s the problem. It’s the dealer,” Freda said. “This is a treatable disease. We need to remove the stigma and get these people into treatment. The prevention and education piece of this is so important, to understand that these medications can be dangerous.”

“The huge gap for us continues to be the availability of resources,” McGraw said, noting that she has seen funding diminish over her 16 years in the public health field. Issues such as health care access, insurance, transportation, local in-patient treatment facilities, and over-prescribing of medications are also obstacles.

A successful program that Sullivan County Public Health Services has helped promote is the sponsorship of Drug Take-Back Days in various communities. Over the past four years, 1,500-plus pounds of surplus medications were collected and transported by the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department to an incinerator in Poughkeepsie.

This not only provides a method for people to remove from their homes unwanted medications that could fall into the wrong hands, it also protects the environment by safely disposing of pharmaceuticals rather than dumping them into public water supplies.

A Drug Take-Back Day is being tentatively planned for western Sullivan County in the hamlet of Callicoon on April 30 if the proper security measures can be arranged. [See related My View on page 7.]