The number of fatal overdoses from heroin and other opioids in Harford County has dipped significantly year over year, with a more than 40 percent decrease in the number of deaths thus far through this year than through the same time period in 2018.
That’s attributable to a number of factors, including heightened awareness about the dangers of opioids, the increased availability of the overdose reversal drug Narcan, and more services being made available to individuals that need them.
We’re not naïve to think this means we’re winning the battle. The 45 lives lost to overdoses so far in 2019 still represent too many members of our community being taken too soon.
And although the total number of overdoses have also declined, albeit not as significantly as fatal ones, we suspect that arming more civilians with Narcan has led to an under-reporting of overdoses to law enforcement and emergency responders.
That’s OK — lives being saved outweighs the need for perfect statistics. But we cannot be complacent as the numbers fall.
The need to help people struggling with addiction very obviously still exists, as evidenced by the high demand for services from the still relatively new Klein Family Harford Crisis Center in Bel Air, designed to help people suffering from mental health and addiction issues have access to treatment.
Since the walk-in/urgent care facility at the crisis center opened in June, more than 900 people have sought assistance. More than two-thirds of those individuals had no previous interaction with Upper Chesapeake Health’s behavioral health system over the past two years, Bari Klein, executive director of Healthy Harford/Healthy Cecil, recently told members of the Harford delegation to the Maryland General Assembly.
Now, not all of those individuals are necessarily struggling with addiction, although it often goes hand-in-hand with other behavioral health issues.
Making sure individuals get the help they need can go a long way toward bringing the number of overdose deaths closer to zero.
Earlier this week, Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler announced that signs positioned in front of each of the sheriff’s precincts, which have highlighted the number of overdoses and related deaths in an effort to raise awareness of the ongoing heroin epidemic, received an update and a new purpose — shining a spotlight on support and treatment awareness.
The signs are now emblazoned with the phone number for the 24/7 crisis center hotline, 1-800-NEXT-STEP (1-800-639-8783). Since it opened last fall, more than 5,000 people have called the hotline seeking help.
Despite those large numbers, officials say there are still people unaware these services are available. We encourage our readers to spread the word about the crisis center and the 24/7 hotline, and also to remind folks that they do not have to be in an active crisis to get help. In fact, officials say they would much rather people make contact early.
“We don’t want people to come in when they’re in active crisis,” Klein said. “We want them to come before they reach that point so they don’t reach that point.”
Harford County is fortunate to have a resource like the crisis center. Let’s make sure people are aware such a service is available to them.