8-08-2021 5:20am

How is Columbus Handling the National Opioid Crisis?

S RENEE GREENE Editor

The history of opioids started in 1775 when it became legal in the United States.

Opioids were used to treat troops during the Civil War in the 1860s and many became addicted. The Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914 placed restrictions on opioids in order to limit their commercial use, but the nationwide nationwide opioid epidemic started in the 1990s.

Doctors avoided prescribing opioids in the 1970s due to the stigma associated with addiction, instead opting for surgical procedures to prevent nerves from processing pain signals. In the 1980s and 1990s, however, opioids were reintroduced to the treatment of chronic pain.

Opioid prescriptions and overdosing on heroin and other synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, led to more increases in 2010 (CDC - Understanding the Epidemic).

In a ten-year period, the total number of opioid-related overdose deaths in Georgia increased by 207% and in October 2017, the Department of Health and Human Services declared the opioid crisis a national public health emergency.

According to the Georgia Department of Public Health, in 2020, 67% of drug overdose deaths in Georgia were related to opioids—a total of 1,309; and the number of stimulant-related overdose deaths rose 546% in that same decade.

Just last year, GDPH said, 996 deaths involved stimulants, representing 51% of all overdose deaths.

As the GPDH works to combat the abuse of opioids and stimulants, the state has the following programs available to help:

Opioid and Substance Misuse Response
Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP)
Drug Surveillance Unit

The Opioid and Substance Misuse Response Program is responsible for statewide planning efforts to respond to the epidemic and other emerging substance abuse.

Statewide strategic planning efforts in response to the opioid crisis include:

Convening a Committee on Multi-Cultural Inclusion and eight priority area Work Groups: Prevention Education, Maternal Substance Use, Data and Surveillance, Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP), Treatment and Recovery, Control and Enforcement, Harm Reduction, and Hopsice.
Implementing targeted communications campaigns.
Coordinating the placement of regional Public Health Analysts (PHAs) in Public Health Districts and Georgia Hospital Association’s Healthcare Coalitions.

Statewide strategic planning efforts in response to other emerging substance misuse include:

Updating the statewide strategic plan to include emerging substance misuse trends.
Developing response plans for addressing pain clinic closures and overdose spikes and/or clusters.
Strengthening planning and preparedness efforts through importing and leveraging best-practices as identified through Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Association of State and Territory Health Officials (ASTHO), and Atlanta-Carolinas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (A-C HIDTA).

Statewide grant application and management efforts include:

Seeking applicable grants to help build and sustain efforts addressing addictive diseases.
Leveraging in-state and out-of-state partners, such as university systems, community stakeholders, other state agencies and non-governmental organizations to assist with potential funding opportunities to support Georgia’s efforts.

Georgia's Multi-Stakeholder Opioid and Substance Use Response Plan

Mission: To implement a sustainable, collaborative and multi-disciplinary approach in response to Georgia’s opioid and substance misuse crisis.

Vision: To improve access to state and local data; to recommend and/or implement education best practices; and to promote the use of law enforcement, healthcare and public health resources to prevent the misuse of opioids and other substances in Georgia.

Signs of an Overdose:

#1 sign of opioid overdose is unresponsiveness
Other signs include:
- Awake, but unable to talk
- Limp posture
- Face is pale or clammy
- Blue fingernails and lips
- For lighter skinned people, the skin tone turns bluish purple; for darker skinned people, the skin tone turns grayish or ashen
- Breathing is very slow and shallow, erratic or has stopped
- Pulse is slow, erratic or not there at all
- Choking sounds or a snore-like gurgling noise (sometimes called the “death-rattle”)

Preventing and Responding to an Overdose:

Drug overdose and overdose deaths are preventable through awareness, education, access to treatment, outbreak detection, and the use of naloxone.
How Can You Help?
- Carry naloxone if you or someone you know is at risk. (See “Naloxone” link above for more information)
- Visit the Georgia Crisis & Access Line (GCAL) at 1-800-715-4225, available 24/7, for access to services and immediate crisis help.
- Increase awareness and educate others of the risks associated with drug use, signs of an overdose, and how to respond.

Steps to take if you suspect a drug overdose:

Call 911 immediately, report a drug overdose, and give the street address and location of the suspected overdose. If there are other persons available, send someone to wait for the ambulance and guide the emergency medical technicians to the individual. Georgia has a medical amnesty law that protects individuals who may be experiencing an overdose and callers seeking medical attention for alcohol and drug overdoses.
Try to wake the individual by speaking loudly, pinching, or rubbing your knuckles vigorously up and down the sternum (the bony part in the middle of the chest.)
Make sure the individual is breathing. If not, administer rescue breathing (mouth-to-mouth) if appropriate, by pinching the individual’s nose shut and blowing into the mouth. Lay the individual on their side after they have resumed breathing on their own.
Administer Naloxone, if you have it and know how to use it.
Stay with the individual until help arrives, and act quickly to administer rescue breathing if they stop breathing.
Encourage the individual to cooperate with the ambulance crew.

Upcoming 2021 COPA Meetings:

Narcan Focus Group, Thursday, August 19 at Noon - VIRTUAL (ZOOM)
Fentantyl Focus Group, Thursday, September 16 at Noon - VIRTUAL (ZOOM)
Quarterly Luncheon, Thursday, October 14 at Noon - In-person at 5801 Veterans Pkwy, Columbus 31904