A new approach supporters contend will further drive down Ventura County’s fentanyl deaths uses first responders to deliver withdrawal medication to people struggling with opioid use.
Emergency medical teams from ambulance providers and fire departments in the county already carry supplies of Narcan, a medication that reverses effects of an opioid overdose. In a grant-funded initiative set to launch in July, the first responders will also distribute buprenorphine, a powerful medication that eases withdrawal and reduces craving for opioids. It’s often used in treatment.
“It’s meant to take the itch away,” said Joey Williams, clinical manager at AMR, which provides ambulance service across the county. He and others contend the first responders program is a more aggressive approach that reduces the chances of people immediately using again and wedges open the door to treatment.
“Once you’re on this medication, it saves your life,” said Dr. Tipu Khan, who leads the addiction medicine program at Ventura County Medical Center in Ventura. He praised the new program.
“In 10 years, it will be the standard of care,” he said.
Used by a handful of counties across California, the new approach comes at a critical time. Speculation about federal budget cuts has sparked concern about funding for overdose programs. At the same time, efforts to fight the opioid crisis appear to be gaining traction as once skyrocketing death rates fall.
Across the nation, provisional data from the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention show overdose deaths may have fallen as much as 24% last year. In Ventura County, the 113 fentanyl deaths reported last year represented a 37% fall from the 178 deaths in 2023 and part of an overall decline in overdose fatalities.
Doctors and emergency responders contend the rising accessibility of Narcan has helped reduce deaths. They said the drug also has limits. It reverses overdoses but doesn’t diminish the vomiting and other powerful symptoms that mark opioid withdrawal.
Because they’re desperate to feel better, people often use again almost immediately when their bodies are depleted and the chances of another potentially fatal overdose are especially high.
Buprenorphine mutes withdrawal symptoms and significantly reduces the chances of another overdose even if someone uses again shortly after the initial overdose. Though it acts as sort of a shield against fentanyl and similar drugs, it doesn’t carry nearly the same level of euphoria
“We saw a major reduction in overdose deaths because of the (buprenorphine) program. We want to expand it,” said Matt Pall, CEO of Westlake Village nonprofit Conejo Health.
Pall is a paramedic who started Conejo Health after his girlfriend died of a heroin overdose. The organization distributes Narcan locally and across the nation. The overdose medication is included in harm reduction kits that also carry fentanyl testing strips to help users determine whether another drug has been mixed with the often lethal drug.
The organization also provides substance-use navigators who connect overdose patients and others in hospital emergency rooms with treatment options.
Conejo Health is leading the new program, funded through a nearly $100,000 grant from the California Paramedic Foundation. Conejo Health will supply buprenorphine to fire departments and ambulance providers and has helped conduct training on administering the medication.
First responders will offer to administer the medication to people who are going through opioid withdrawal, including people who have just been given Narcan because of an overdose. The patients will be asked to go to an emergency room. Conejo Health will do follow-up work aimed at connecting people with treatment.
The program is different because it relies on paramedics and other responders to distribute a drug that could later become part of a person’s treatment. Others worry because one drug is being used to treat addiction to another, albeit far more dangerous, substance. Advocates say the concerns pale in comparison to benefits.
“I think the stigma is what we have to get over,” said Dr. Neil Canby, an emergency room doctor and medical director for the Ventura County Fire Department. “It starts them down the road of a medication-assisted treatment program.”
Canby and Ian Anderson, an addiction counselor and chief operating officer for Conejo Health, together came up with the concept for the program. Anderson sees it as a way to help people at the highest risk of a fatal overdose.
“Dead people don’t recover. If we don’t give them a chance, they may never get another chance,” Anderson said.
Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com.
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This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Ground-breaking effort uses first responders to fight fentanyl overdoses in Ventura County
Reporting by Tom Kisken, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
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