Emergency workers in North Country trained on how to deal with opioids
Health workers look for strategies on handling dangerous drugs
Health workers look for strategies on handling dangerous drugs
Health workers look for strategies on handling dangerous drugs
Law enforcement and health officials met Thursday in the North Country to discuss strategies for dealing with New Hampshire's opioid crisis, saying that it's not just a problem for the southern part of the state.
Experts said that the opioid crisis is more rampant in southern areas, but they said that it's affecting people everywhere, and those in rural areas need to learn how to deal with it.
Drug Enforcement Administration special agent in charge John DeLena showed those gathered for the event how fentanyl can be processed with a simple blender. About 160 first responders, nurses and social workers from the North Country and Vermont took part in the event and learned how to recognize drugs and deal with the people who take them.
"This thing knows no borders," DeLena said. "It's pushing everywhere. We're starting to see it more in the North Country of the Granite State, and that's something that worries me."
One of the primary goals of the meeting was to show emergency workers what fentanyl looks like and how it's made and packaged. They also learned about the dangers of coming in contact with some drugs at a crime scene or in an emergency room.
"As this problem increases, it's more important for them to figure out what it is that they're going to be seeing and how to respond," event organizer Sarah Blum said.
Capt. Chris Doolan of the Hanover Fire Department said he believes that opioid use is going on in his community, but officials aren't seeing the high overdose numbers southern New Hampshire is seeing.
"I think it's growing, and there's no solution in sight," he said. "I wouldn't be surprised that in the future, we will be dealing with it more."
"We're talking about a different part of the Granite State here, but they're seeing fentanyl, which is obviously what's killing Granite Staters every day, but they're seeing other street-level drugs as well, and they want the knowledge to safely handle the stuff," DeLena said.
DeLena said that one of the other issues in the North Country is response time. It can take longer for first responders to deliver the lifesaving drug Narcan to someone who has overdosed.