Opioid overdoses caused more than 33,000 deaths in the U.S. in 2015 alone, according to data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC estimates that opioids—ranging from heroin to prescription painkillers—cause nearly 91 overdose deaths in the country each day.
The CDC’s website labels the misuse of opioids as a nationwide epidemic, and the pattern holds true for Santa Barbara County, where data from the Sheriff’s Office shows that opioids caused 65 percent of all overdose deaths in 2016. Those statistics don’t include those who survived opioid overdoses.
Although 2016 wasn’t the county’s worst year for opioid related deaths—47 residents were killed by opioids that year—the county experienced a sharp increase from the 27 deaths caused by opioids in 2005.
“It’s become pervasive within our society,” Sheriff’s Cmdr. Craig Bonner said. “You have this progression of people using prescription opioids, but prescription opioids become expensive and then they transition into the illegal narcotics because they’re cheaper.”
Illegal opioids, Bonner said, are difficult to dose.
Several local law enforcement and government agencies, including the Sheriff’s Office and Public Health Department, are teaming up against the issue of opioid related deaths. For the Sheriff’s Office and the Santa Maria Police Department that means updating response protocol to address the epidemic.
The unincorporated response
Sheriff’s Office patrol deputies are now some of the county’s only law enforcement agents carrying Narcan, a brand of naloxone nasal spray used to block the effects of opioids and prevent death during an overdose.
American Medical Response and Santa Barbara County Fire Department paramedics and emergency medical technicians have carried Narcan for decades, but Bonner said the drug only recently became available to law enforcement agencies through changes in state law authorized in 2015.
“So here’s the opportunity to save lives, it’s not overly expensive to do it, and we now have the ability to do it,” Bonner said.
Deputies have already used naloxone seven times since it was first distributed in April, Bonner said, and in five of those incidents, the individuals who overdosed made full recoveries. The other two cases resulted in one partial recovery and one death, Bonner said.
Opioids kill by slowing and eventually stopping a person’s breathing during an overdose. Naloxone blocks those effects and restores central nervous system functions and respiration within two to five minutes. But Bonner said some people can’t be saved.
“If it’s too late, it’s too late,” he said. “If they’ve been without oxygen for long enough there will either be permanent brain damage or death.”
The required hour-long training for naloxone use was provided to the Sheriff’s Office by the Emergency Medical Services Agency through the Public Health Department, Bonner said. Deputies learned about overdoses, naloxone, and how to use it. Each deputy is issued a single kit, which can only be administered once and costs about $75. Bonner said naloxone kits are also being stored at a number of facilities where overdoses might occur, including county courthouses.
To date, Bonner said the county has spent roughly $10,000 on naloxone. The Public Health Department has provided integral funding help, Bonner said, through a state grant that could supply the Sheriff’s Office with enough naloxone for the next three years.
The Public Health Department received a total of 884 doses of naloxone through the grant, according to Emergency Medical Services Agency Director Nicholas Clay. Half of those kits were distributed this fall to various county agencies, including the Sheriff’s Office, Doctors Without Walls, and the Pacific Pride Foundation. The other half will be disbursed next year.
“It’s something that is a growing concern in our community and a growing problem,” Clay said. “We’re so excited to have the opportunity to provide such meaningful intervention.”
The Sheriff’s Office is one of the first law enforcement agencies in the county to carry naloxone because its jurisdiction includes rural and unincorporated areas, often located miles from emergency medical services where sheriff’s deputies are frequently first on scene.
Within city limits
The Santa Maria Fire Department is not yet equipped with naloxone, according to Battalion Chief Tom Crakes, because Santa Maria firefighters usually arrive within seconds of American Medical Response ambulances, which already carry naloxone.
For similar reasons, Santa Maria Police Department officers don’t carry naloxone, but Lt. Russell Mengel said the department is discussing whether to equip its officers with the drug.
“We have some officers who are emergency medical technicians and paramedics, so we’ve considered giving it to them,” Mengel said. “There would be some associated costs and training.”
Mengel said an increase in the prevalence of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that mimics the effects of morphine but is 50 to 100 times as potent, spurred the department’s interest in naloxone. More than a month ago Mengel said Santa Maria police responded to a string of roughly seven fentanyl related overdoses within three days.
“It was a huge concern for our officers,” Mengel said, adding that extremely small doses of fentanyl can be fatal, and it can be absorbed through the skin and eyes.
Shortly after those incidents, Santa Maria police went through additional training on fentanyl overdose response based on recommendations the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) released in June. The DEA suggests first responders wear gloves, dust masks, goggles, paper coveralls, and shoe covers while handling fentanyl. Mengel said officers will now wear protective suits, masks, and gloves in fentanyl related situations, and the department is working toward carrying naloxone.
Staff Writer Kasey Bubnash can be reached at kbubnash@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Nov 23-30, 2017.