News

Tenn. Medical Center, Area Agencies Partner to Battle Opioid Overdoses

Mike Christen

09/27/2015

Sept. 27--In response to the increase of deaths from opioid overdose across Tennessee, the Maury County Regional Medical Center and local emergency organizations have taken steps to save lives.

Maury Regional will lead a program supplying the opioid antagonist prevention drug naloxone hydrochloride to local first responders. The drug allows them to reverse the deadly effects of an overdose.

MCRMC Director of Population Health Jill Gaddes led a meeting Friday in which a Memorandum of Understanding for the project was agreed upon by representatives of the Columbia Fire Department, Columbia Police Department along with the EMS departments of Hohenwald, Lawrence County and Giles counties.

"The work is yet to be done. We want to form a steering committee and a timeline for training and distribution of the actual tools needed," Gaddes said.

The project will be funded with a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health &Human Services over the course of the 2015-2016 year. Known as the Rural Opioid Overdoes Reversal Grant Program, Maury and surrounding counties are one of 18 regions across 13 states to receive the grant.

The MCRMC will lead the program's development, training all the participating departments with the help of the Maury Regional Ambulance Service in administering the drug and distributing it to all of the participating organizations.

Assistant Director of the Maury Regional Ambulance Service Danny Flemming said the program will give an opportunity to pair up with their public service partners.

Once the grant period is over, departments should be able to continue carrying the drug because of its low cost compared to similar medications, Gaddes said.

"This is about saving lives. These our our children out there, they are dying. I think this is a great opportunity for us as a region to come together and work together," Maury Regional Ambulance Service Director Lynn Thompson said.

According to the Tennessee Department of Health, 20 people died from overdoses in Maury County during 2014. That same year, neighboring Williamson County, with more than double the population of Maury, had 18 deaths. Last year, the total number of overdose related deaths rose by nearly 100 in the state of Tennessee, from 1,166 to 1,263 with deaths in 91 out of the state's 95 counties.

"We need to change that, and this drug would be an easy step to move forward. We know it's already out there and we know it is working," Thompson said.

The Harm Reduction Coalition states naloxone is a non-addictive drug that works by counteracting the life-threatening depression of the nervous system caused by an opioid overdose, allowing the the victim breath normally. It can be sprayed into the nose or injected into the muscle, vein and under the skin. It has no effect if opioids are absent from the body.

Thompson said he wants to make sure participants are comfortable with administering the drug. He said training sessions should not take more than a couple of hours. The program will use an application process similar to an EpiPen.

Columbia Police Chief Tim Potts considered possible issues might arise with officers due to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, but Thompson assured the participating agencies that there is legislation in place to protect them.

"We want to make this as easy as possible. If we save just one person out of this 20 then we have done a good thing. I know these could be my children out there or my grandchildren," Thompson said.