'Recovery is possible': Portage agencies to host overdose awareness events this week
Dealing with the opioid crisis is not just a job for Jessika Easterling — it is personal.
"I started losing friends in 2012 when I lost two friends," said the executive director of Ravenna-based nonprofit Open United Recovery Place. "So to me, it started then, you know, in my life."
OUR Place is one of several agencies and organizations that will be marking International Overdose Awareness Day this Thursday with events in Kent and Ravenna. The others are the Mental Health and Recovery Board of Portage County, Kent Health Department and Brightview Kent Addiction Center. Other organizations also are partnering in these events.
"This is the first year we weren't the only organization to host an event," said Easterling. "It's cool that there is more awareness and more events happening."
Most of the events will be on Thursday, but the one hosted by Brightview will be Wednesday.
Overdoses by the numbers
Karyn Kravetz, associate director of Mental Health and Recovery Board of Portage County, said that getting statistics on overall overdoses have been difficult, but this is starting to change with more information available this year from the Portage County Health District and the state.
She said there were 97 reported unintentional overdoses — excluding overdoses listed as self-harm, suicide attempt or suicidal ideation — from Jan. 1 through June 14 this year. For the eight weeks from June 18 to Aug. 12, there were about 6.5 overdoses per week or about 52 overdoses.
Through Aug. 16, there had been 22 fatal accidental overdoses for the year, which is on pace to be lower than the 48 deaths in all of 2022, the highest number on record for Portage County, according to data from the Portage County Coroner's Office. A dozen deaths this year were reported during a four-week period in late winter and early spring alone.
The coroner's office reported there were 43 accidental fatal overdoses in 2021, 44 in 2020, 33 in 2019, 30 in 2018, 42 in 2017, 46 in 2016, 30 in 2015 and 27 in 2014.
Recognizing the signs of drug overdose
Many overdoses involve fentanyl, a potent opioid that users may not even be aware is mixed into other drugs. Often, fentanyl has been combined with heroin, also an opioid. Fortunately, opioid overdoses, including prescription opioids, are treatable with naloxone, often referred to by the trade name Narcan.
However, said Kravetz, a disturbing trend in recent years has been overdoses involving a cocktail of fentanyl and non-opioid drugs that naloxone is ineffective against, commonly meth and/or cocaine.
"Unfortunately, we're seeing quite a mix," said Kravetz. "You know, there's just about all the drugs. There's poly-substance use at this point. Just about everything is what we're seeing."
Kravetz said it is important for people to know the signs of overdose so that they can get a loved one help as quickly as possible, including:
Dizziness and confusion.
Drowsiness or difficulty staying awake.
Cannot be awakened.
Slow, weak or no breathing.
Blue lips or nails.
Choking, gurgling or snoring sounds.
Call 911 immediately if an overdose is suspected and start administering naloxone if available. Every moment counts, said Kravetz.
"Sadly, we are learning from reports that many times, people are not alone when they pass away and their friends or family members believe that they are just sleeping," she said.
Events in Kent and Ravenna
Portage County International Overdose Awareness Day kicks off at Brightview Kent Addiction Center, which hosting an event in its lobby at 1951 state Route 59, Suite A, on Wednesday from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Narcan and information about addiction resources will be available, along with overdose awareness stickers and purple ribbon pins. Donuts, muffins, coffee and punch will be served.
Go to www.brightviewhealth.com for more information about Brightview Addiction Centers.
Kent Health Department staff will be at these at four locations from 1 to 3 p.m. Thursday:
Kent Social Services, 1066 S. Water St.
Kent Free Library, 312 W. Main St.
Kent Health Department, Kent Central Gateway — Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority building — 201 E. Erie St.
In front of the Kent State University Student Center, 1075 Risman Drive.
"We wanted to try to spread out throughout the city to make it easier for people to find us," said Kent Health Commissioner Joan Seidel. "We have four trained Narcan providers, so we split up and sort of took a quadrant of the city."
Seidel said health department staff will be distributing Narcan kits and educational materials, as well as providing information about resources in the community.
She said the health department is participating through Project Dawn, a program of the Ohio Department of Health to facilitate the distribution of naloxone and act as an opioid overdose education network.
"I just think it's important to increase people's awareness, if they're not aware there is a problem, that we're trying to be proactive and and keeping it from getting out of control," said Seidel. "Hopefully by doing this type of education, we'll decrease some stigma about receiving help."
Go to www.kentohio.org/153/Health for more information about the Kent Health Department or tinyurl.com/2p8ffv7s for information about Project Dawn.
The Mental Health and Recovery Board of Portage County will be at the Kent Gazebo on Franklin Avenue in downtown Kent on Thursday from 4 to 6 p.m.
Partners in the event include Axesspointe Community Health Center, MedMark Treatment Center and Townhall II, all in Kent, and University Hospitals Portage Medical Center in Ravenna.
Kravetz said Narcan, fentanyl test strips and personal hygiene items will be distributed and information about resources will be provided.
"We want the community to know that treatment is available and recovery is possible," she said. "Detox, residential treatment, medication-assisted treatment, recovery housing, counseling, peer support services are all available."
Call the Portage Addiction Helpline 330-678-3006 for resources and information.
Additional information is available at the following websites:
Mental Health and Recovery Board of Portage County; www.mental-health-recovery.org
Axesspointe Community Health Center; axesspointe.org
MedMark Treatment Center; medmark.com
Townhall II; www.townhall2.com
Open United Recovery Place will be at Ravenna City Park, 165 Oakwood St., starting at 5 p.m. Thursday. Easterling, the executive director, said this is the fourth year OU. Place has held an event for International Overdose Awareness Day and typically they last at least two hours.
The Portage County Combined General Health District is a partner in the event.
It will start with speakers, including State Rep. Gail Pavliga, who serves as chairwoman of the Ohio House of Representatives Behavioral Health Committee, and Portage County Common Pleas Judge Becky Doherty, who serves as the presiding judge of the court's Hope Drug Court and was instrumental in starting it.
Also scheduled to speak is a woman who will tell her story of surviving multiple overdoses and what she went through in her recovery.
Starting at about 6 p.m., there will be a candle-lighting ceremony, during which empty chairs will honor those who have died from overdoses in Portage County since last year's event. Each chair will have a candle and a victim's name on it. There will also be a display highlighting the numbers of people who died from overdose each year since 2001.
Community members will have the opportunity to light candles and speak the names of their loved ones into a microphone.
"We're trying to kind of honor the people who we have lost," said Easterling.
The event will close with music.
Narcan, fentanyl testing strips and hygiene bags will be handed out. Food, such as hot dogs and chips, will be provided.
OUR Place is a 501(c)93) organization located at 260 W. Main St. in Ravenna.
Easterling said it acts as a resource broker to connect people with the help they need. OUR Place also has peer supporters to work one-on-one with people. OUR Place has been working with some for as long as five years, said Easterling.
"We are a place where people can feel safe to come back after they relapse," she said. "We don't shame people, that kind of thing. People know they have support and can get back on track here. So we have people, like I said, that we've been working with for years, who are in long term recovery, who now come and volunteer. And that service work piece is also a big part of what we do here because we give people opportunities to give back to the community."
Go to www.openunitedrecovery.org for more information about Open United Recovery Place and portagehealth.net for more information about the Portage County Combined General Health District.
Reporter Jeff Saunders can be reached at jsaunders@recordpub.com.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Overdose Awareness events coming to Kent, Ravenna this week.
