Carroll first responders receive thanks from those they have saved

More than 140 law enforcement officers, firefighters and other first responders attended the First Responder's Appreciation Dinner in Westminster on Tuesday night.

Held at Martin's Westminster, the event featured a keynote by Dr. Richard Alcorta, Maryland EMS director, and testimony from people in recovery from opioid or heroin addiction, some of whom had been rescued from a potentially fatal overdose by a first responder who was in the room. Many police, as well as emergency medical professionals carry naloxone, the opioid drug antidote also known as Narcan.

"This is a way to show the community's appreciation to the first responders saving lives with naloxone," said Linda Auerback, substance abuse prevention supervisor with the Carroll County Health Department, which organized the event along with the Opioid Prevention Coalition. "We have reached out to the first responder who administrated naloxone in these cases, so they can come face to face with one another, to thank them and for the first responder to know the rest of the story."

First responders don't always get to find out what happens to someone after they have been revived from an overdose, which can be frustrating, Auerback noted, especially when they see the same people overdosed again, and again, what she calls "frequent fliers."

"You know, when they see frequent fliers they think, 'What's the use?' " Auerback said. "We have several frequent fliers here tonight who turned their lives around because someone saved them."

One of these was Jesse Tomlin, who said he has been given naloxone "more times than I can count on my hands." Today, Tomlin works with the nonprofit Rising Above Addiction and has launched his own foundation, the Push HOPE Project.

He said, with a laugh, that he planned to break the ice with the crowd at the dinner by asking how many of them in the room had given him naloxone.

"It's important for me to show them that we do change our lives, and we do recover and become productive members of society," Tomlin said. "Just to say that we do change, you know? I have a full-time job, I'm putting on events to help other addicts get into treatment."

And so while the dinner was about thanking first responders for saving lives in the midst of an opioid addiction crisis — drug and/or alcohol overdoses claimed 15 lives in Carroll County in the first three months of 2017 — it was also, Auerback said, a chance to close the feedback loop. To allow those saved to directly say thank you to those who had treated them and let the first responders know they really are making a difference.

"It's an opportunity to connect, and we're hoping, to break the stigma and maybe change things," Auerback said. "Hopefully this will be an annual thing if we can get the funding, but I think it's a great step forward to people understanding what addiction is about."

Just before the dinner program got underway, three people milled about in the front of the dining hall: Nicholas Cole, a tall young man with sandy blond hair; and his mother, Yolanda, stood speaking with Maryland State Police Cpl. Ed Winkler.

"This is the officer that saved me back in January when I OD'd," Nicholas Cole said. "I don't really remember a lot of things, and I wasn't really the same person that I am right now. I was just thanking him for saving my life — he gave me the opportunity that I have right now."

Winkler was uncomfortable accepting any special credit for doing his job, thanking Yolanda Cole for being diligent in seeking help for her son. But the idea of bringing together first responders and those whom they have helped at a future dinner was definitely something he said he could see taking place.

"This a good place to connect," Winkler said. "It's a good way of everyone coming together and trying to understand and work together. That's the ultimate goal, working together to solve the problem."

jon.kelvey@carrollcountytimes.com

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