Relatives left behind by overdose speak about opiate response

To a crowded room at the Statehouse, Bill Mapes of Regional Ambulance in Rutland recounted an experience that has become familiar for first responders in the state: arriving on the scene of a suspected opiate overdose, administering the reversal drug naloxone and waiting for it to kick in.

“You gasp, you wretch, you vomit on my pants,” Mapes said. “But it’s OK because you’re alive now, and on this day some things went right for you.”

Mapes was one of a slew of state officials and Vermont community members in the capital Thursday to raise awareness about opiate overdose. While some expressed cautious optimism about the strides Vermont has made, many emphasized the ongoing battle to curb the opiate epidemic.

State officials detailed a range of efforts made to address the issue, including expanded treatment options, prescription drug take-back programs, and greater access to naloxone.

Mapes emphasized that while the overdose-reversing drug can be effective, emergency intervention is just one piece of a larger response to the crisis.

“This is me sticking my finger in a leaking dam, and at some point we have to fix the dam,” he said.

Last year more than 100 people fatally overdosed on opiates, according to Vermont Department of Health officials — a record number.

Gov. Phil Scott said the state must address the crisis both by providing treatment and increasing efforts to prevent addiction in the first place.

“Our responsibility is to do everything we can to not only to save lives but to prevent people from starting down the destructive and often fatal path of drug misuse,” Scott said.

The governor acknowledged that the number of opioid overdose-related deaths is continuing to increase but said it’s doing so at a rate slower than in nearby states, which he attributed to Vermont’s system for treatment.

“We know too well that the number of opioid-related deaths is far too high. Even one is too many, but measurable progress is being made,” Scott said.

Two Northeast Kingdom women who lost family members to opiate overdoses shared stories of their loved ones and called for improving addiction education, prevention and treatment efforts.

After Jeanette Birch’s 26-year-old son Gary died last year, she and Melissa Zebrowski formed NEK End Addiction. Zebrowski lost her brother, Eric Morin, 35, to acute fentanyl poisoning in late 2015.

“Heroin is stealing a generation of young adults from the Northeast Kingdom and the rest of Vermont,” Birch said.

Birch said that moving forward with a proposal to legalize marijuana would work counter to opiate prevention efforts.

“We have got a huge drug epidemic in our state, in our country. I guarantee marijuana legalization will only exacerbate this problem,” Birch said.

The two also called for improved access to treatment, including faith-based treatment options.

Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo said the opiate crisis requires a response from both public safety and public health officials. He outlined the approach Burlington city officials are taking.

Del Pozo said the state needs to be “agnostic” and open to a variety of approaches.

He raised the potential for exploring new ways to address the crisis, including offering medication-assisted treatment in prisons — a proposal outlined in a bill that is under consideration by some House committees. He also brought up a proposal to ensure that those in need of opiate addiction treatment would have access to a key drug within 24 hours.

“Heroin is relentless, so our response as your public servants must be relentless as well,” he said.

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