By Charlotte Smith
The Bladen County Substance Misuse Task Force continues the fight against overdoses and resumes educating the community. Dr. Teresa Duncan, Bladen County Health & Human Services Director, gave updates on grants and introduced the new Community Outreach and Resources Coordinator before emergency responders gave updates and warnings to the public at the task force meeting held on January 24, 2023 at Bladen Community College.
Dr. Duncan confirmed the County of Bladen received an “Opioid Remediation Grant” of $30,800 to help with supplies and planning for programs like Celebrate Recovery and other anonymous recovery groups. Duncan also announced Coastal Horizon and RHA Health Services are now serving Bladen County (BC) with mobile clinics.
According to Bladen County EMS Director David Howell and Captain Daniel Clark with the Bladen County Sheriff’s Office Uniform Patrol Division, Bladen County continues to face overdoses due to drug misuse.
In the first month of 2023, there were ten non-fatal overdoses and two fatal overdoses in Bladen County. EMS Director, David Howell, said the need for Narcan continues to increase. Narcan is a medicine used to revive someone exhibiting signs of a drug overdose.
“Drug dealers are selling Narcan with dope,” Captain Clark added, “We can’t revive all the overdoses.”
The age group that has the most fatal overdoses, according to EMS Director Howell, is the age group 35 years of age to 44 years of age.
Captain Clark explained there is a rise in designer drugs. Xylazine is gaining popularity for drug use and is considered highly deadly because there is no reversal medicine available.
“Parents beware- if you see the app Signal on your kid’s phone, get rid of it,” Captain Clark pleaded. Drug dealers use the app because the messages are encrypted, and teenagers should not be using the app.
Cecilia Peers with Trillium Health Resources gave an update about managed care access. Anyone needing assistance from Mobile Crisis Services may call 1-866-437-1821. Also, Trillium Health Resources will launch a new tailored care management system on April 1, 2023, according to Peers’ report.
The new Bladen County Community Resource and Outreach Coordinator, Tamisha Purdie, gave a presentation on prevention, treatment, and recovery for substance misuse. According to her presentation, Bladen County has hired two licensed clinical addiction specialists, initiated screenings with brief interventions and referrals, and hired her as the resource coordinator. In the fall of 2022, Bladen County started the Life Skills program in Bladen County Public Schools.
The next steps for the task force, according to the presentation, are to increase access to naloxone and training, increase the number of drug take-back events, train more law enforcement and first responders in Critical Incident Training, open an information and resource website for citizens, and work in the community to develop more anonymous recovery groups.
The task force heard from students at Teen Challenge in Elizabethtown about their road to recovery.
Bladen County manager Greg Martin reminded those in attendance about the County’s agreement with the Healing Place in Wilmington to provide five beds daily for Bladen County residents identified as needing their services.
Martin concluded the saying, the next BC Substance Misuse Task Force meeting will be announced at a later date.
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