Pubdate: Fri, 23 Jan 2015
Source: La Crosse Tribune (WI)
Copyright: 2015 The La Crosse Tribune
Contact: http://www.lacrossetribune.com/app/forms/sendletter/
Website: http://www.lacrossetribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/229
Author: Anne Jungen

FATAL OVERDOSES FALL TO ZERO, BUT NEEDLE GIVEAWAYS SKYROCKET

La Crosse County leaders fighting the local heroin epidemic credit a
life-saving drug with eliminating fatal overdoses.

No heroin users died in 2014, thanks in large part to the availability
and skyrocketing use of Narcan, the antidote for an opiate overdose.
Two people died in 2013 and five in 2012 of accidental heroin
overdoses, La Crosse County Medical Examiner Tim Candahl said.

Nationally, heroin deaths surged 39 percent in 2013 in 8,260,
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Narcan saves users by reversing the effects of heroin and other
opiates, which can kill addicts by slowing their breathing until their
hearts stop.

"It's critical. It's the difference between life and death," said Mike
Desmond, co-chairman of the county's Heroin Task Force. "Let's cheer
no heroin deaths. That was our first goal. But we're not naive enough
to believe heroin isn't out there. Use could be increasing and now we
have to focus on prevention."

Tri-State Ambulance paramedics administered Narcan on 181 patients
last year, up from 133 in 2013.

La Crosse firefighters used the drug on 30 patients in their first
year administering Narcan.

"Every time we use Narcan, they've come out," said Steve Cash, who
trained the city's firefighters how to use the drug. "It was
successful 100 percent of the time."

The AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin on King Street trained 56 people
last year how to administer Narcan, up from 51 in 2013, said Scott
Stokes, the organization's director of prevention. Those who complete
the training program get five doses of Narcan.

Those trained reported using Narcan on drug users 76 times last year,
an increase from 37 reported uses in 2013.

"But we know we don't get near 100 percent reports," Stokes
said.

The resource center also distributes clean needles primarily to opiate
users, arguing they're trying to save lives by preventing the spread
of HIV and Hepatitis C. In exchange, the center asks that users return
dirty needles in a sealed container.

Those numbers show a troubling trend: The center handed out 138,959
needles last year, up from 91,809 in 2013 and just 31,000 in 2010,
Stokes said.

"The drug use isn't going down," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Matt