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Summit County Juvenile Court staff members get life-saving training
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: December 9, 2015
From a video addressing the heroin epidemic to demonstrations on how to administer the overdose reversing drug Naloxone—those are just two of the items covered during a recent Project DAWN (Deaths Avoided With Naloxone) training seminar at Summit County Juvenile Court.
Presented by Summit County Public Health Project Manager Yvette Edwards, the one-hour session took place Oct. 29. A total of 25 staff members who work with at-risk young people participated, including those who are part of the Crossroads Program, Offender Specific Unit and the probation department. They all got an in-depth lesson on Naloxone (also known as Narcan).
The non-addictive drug interrupts the effects of opiates, temporarily reducing an overdose for up to an hour, giving the person time to get medical help.
Summit County Juvenile Court Chief Probation Officer Curtis Howard was among those who took part in the training.
“During my 31 years with the court, I have been fortunate not to be involved in an overdose situation, but given the growing drug overdose problem the likelihood that this will change continues to increase,” said Howard.
In fact, according to statistics provided by the Ohio Department of Health’s Center for Public Health, drug overdoses due to opiate use, especially heroin, are continuing to climb in Summit County and statewide. From 2000 to 2010, unintentional drug overdoses rose from 411 to 1,544 per 100,000 residents statewide. In Summit County, 12 deaths for every 100,000 residents were due to a drug overdose.
Between November 2014 and September 2015,the Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office registered 81 opiate-related deaths, including 17 people between the ages of 18 and 27.
Katy VanHorn, program supervisor for Crossroads, said the Project DAWN training was “an eye-opening experience.
“It was amazing to me that someone’s life could be saved so easily with this product,” said VanHorn.
She said Project DAWN is especially important to those involved with the Crossroads Program, a specialized docket for juveniles with co-occurring mental illnesses and/or substance abuse problems.
The intensive probation program allows young people and their families to receive help from community-based organizations.
“We see youth in their homes, schools and in court, so there are any number of times that the training could be of use to us,” said VanHorn. “I have never encountered an overdose situation and hopefully I never will. I have made the kids in this program who have drug problems and their family members aware of how they can gain access to these kits. ”
The probation officers who completed the training have been equipped with a kit containing the medication, which is administered as a nasal spray.
“Our officers carry the kits while out making field contacts,” said Howard. “The kits also contain an educational DVD so we can refresh ourselves on what we learned as well as written instructions and a mask to protect us should we have to do mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
“The medicine is good until 2017,” said Howard. “If we don’t use the medicine, we can take it to Summit County Public Health and trade it in for unexpired medication. ”
“It’s nice to have professionally-trained people in the community in general who can help combat the incidence of opiate-overdose deaths,” said Summit County Juvenile Court Judge Linda Tucci Teodosio. “I am pleased that some of our staff members took the initiative to receive this training. It shows they are aware of a growing issue in our community and want to take a proactive approach in addressing it. ”
Mary Alice Sonnhalter, manager of community relations at the Summit County Alcohol, Drug Addiction & Mental Health Services (ADM) Board, said Project DAWN is not new and has been around for several years.
“In the past six months, there have been a number of Summit County communities that have hosted Project DAWN clinics, including Barberton, Cuyahoga Falls and Hudson, in an effort to get the word out about the life-saving potential of Naloxone,” said Sonnhalter.
She said the recent House Bill 4 expanded access to Naloxone by eliminating the rule that prescribers need to be present when the drug is distributed and allowing pharmacies to dispense the opiate-overdose antidote without a prescription.
“This makes it easier for individuals at risk for an opiate-related overdose and others concerned about them to obtain the life-saving reversal medication,” said Sonnhalter. “The cost of the kit can be billed to the individual’s insurance company. ”
Sonnhalter said there were over 350 adolescents who received treatment for addictions last year. She said due to an increasing trend of younger people becoming addicted, the ADM board funded an adolescent ambulatory detox program that has served several young people since opening on Oct. 1 of this year at Community Health Center in Akron.
A Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) of local high school and middle school students conducted by the Summit County ADM board during the 2013-2014 school year, found just over 15 percent of the students had taken a prescription pain medication without a doctor’s prescription.
She said Project DAWN clinics were started at Summit County Public Health at 1867 W. Market St. and the Edwin Shaw Rehabilitation Institute at 405 Tallmadge Rd. in Cuyahoga Falls to help educate people in the county.
Family members and others who are concerned about a relative or friend can make an appointment at either of the clinics and get educated about how to use Naloxone,” said Sonnhalter. “They will be given the kits to use should there be an emergency situation.
“Part of the training entails how to recognize the signs of an overdose,” she said. “Having access to Naloxone is kind of like an EpiPen for people who have allergies. Just like family members have EpiPens for their allergic relatives, Naloxone can be available to them in case of an overdose. In both cases, the goal is to keep the person alive until they can be connected to professional help. ”
Summit County residents interested in undergoing Naloxone training can call Summit County Public Health at 330-812-3983 or the Edwin Shaw facility at 330-436-0913.
More information can be found by logging on to the Summit County Opiate Task Force website (http://www. summitcountyopiatetaskforce. org/).