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Organizers Celebrate Success Of Save A Life Day

The number of Naloxone doses distributed on Save A Life Day more than doubled this year.

All 13 Appalachian states hosted more than 300 events on Save A Life Day and distributed more than 45,000 doses of naloxone.

Naloxone is a medication that works to reverse opioid overdoses. One common brand is Narcan, an easy-to-use nasal spray.

In 2020, the first Save A Life Day was organized by the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) Office of Drug Control Policy (ODCP) in partnership with SOAR WV, a Charleston-based community group with the stated goal of promoting the health, dignity, and voices of individuals who are impacted by drug use.

This year, the Bureau for Behavioral Health provided $600,000 worth of naloxone in West Virginia and distributed 29,438 doses to community organizations and individuals across the state.

“The expansion of Appalachian Save a Life Day across multiple states underscores our relentless pursuit of saving lives and providing hope to those affected by the opioid crisis,” said Rachel Thaxton, Interim Director for DHHR’s ODCP. “Together with our partners, we have not only made naloxone more accessible but have also opened the door to a brighter future for individuals and families in need.”

Three years since the effort began in just two counties, more than 180 counties across 13 states participated and distributed more than 45,000 naloxone doses throughout Appalachia.

According to Iris Sidikman, the Appalachian Save a Life Day Coordinator with SOAR, about 20,000 doses were distributed last year.

“One of the most moving things about Save A Life Day, to me is watching people take this idea, this idea that we had and this work that we’ve done, and bring it to their community, all the way up and down the country,” Sidikman said. “That, I think, has been the most meaningful part to me.”

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Charleston Area Medical Center and Marshall Health.

After Devastating Floods, Small Communities Take Steps Toward Recovery

Sigman said the quick response from residents, first responders, and state and local officials resulted in better outcomes for the safety of residents. The National Weather Service said it received its first call about flooding at 6:45 a.m. By 7a.m. a warning had been issued and sirens were activated.

The recovery and assessment process began Tuesday in eastern Kanawha County where floods damaged homes, vehicles, bridges, and roadways.

On Wednesday the Kanawha County Commission reported that at least 78 homes were affected, three were destroyed, and seven remain inaccessible according to a survey the commission issued. The commission expects this number to rise as more residents complete the survey, many of whom live in the areas most severely affected.

There were no fatalities from the flood. Emergency Management Director CW Sigman said that’s mostly due to residents making good choices by not attempting to cross streams.

“I know, it was a very scary time for the folks to be in houses with water rushing in back,” said Sigman. “I talked to one lady who had grandchildren on the opposite end of the road she’s on and she was just in tears because she was worried about her grandchildren. But they didn’t get out into the high water and that saves lives.”

The flood flashed quickly, many residents said that it rose faster than any other flood they had seen — rising feet in a matter of hours.

Fast Moving Water Is Powerful

Sigman says that many of the streams that saw the worst flooding like the Slaughter Creek watershed had steep gradient streams. The water moved quickly down into valleys where residential communities live. Sigman says that the water, sediment, and debris it brought with it caused lasting damage to the creek bed and banks.

Sigman visited one of the affected homes where he was told the homeowners had just made their first mortgage payment. The creek behind the home had eroded so severely that it had moved 10 feet closer to their home — possibly putting it at a higher flood risk for future storms.

“That kind of damage is disturbing with how much sediment came with it and how much the creek banks and the hillsides have caved in,” Sigman said.

Water Quality Affected

As water moved through the hills, it collected debris, sediments, bacteria, and chemicals. The Kanawha-Charleston Health Department has detected E. Coli in a residential water well that was tainted during Monday’s floods.

The Health Department is encouraging residents to have wells tested for free to avoid ingesting the deadly strain of bacteria.

“I hope this information gets out to residents who clearly have so much going on in their lives right now. We really don’t want an emergency room visit for a E. coli infection to be one more ordeal they have to contend with right now,” said KCHD Health Officer Dr. Steven Eshenaur.

Many of the areas where the rain fell have been heavily mined, which could also affect the quality of the water. A study published in the Journal of Hydrology said that water discharged from active or inactive coal mine sites has higher acidity and can contain heavy metals.

Insurance Payouts And FEMA Disaster Declaration For Small Communities

State and local officials are working to assess damage to homes and infrastructure. Once the process is complete, the localities will send numbers to the governor who can then request a FEMA disaster declaration.

Sigman says there are multiple qualifiers that FEMA is looking for to declare a disaster declaration. For example, the state must meet a threshold of $3 million in damage to infrastructure.

“They look at vulnerability factors. You know you live in an area that has a lot of retired citizens, people with disabilities or other vulnerability factors, FEMA will factor that in,” Sigman said.

Sigman said that FEMA is in place to help a community though the crisis but usually does not work to replace homes or rebuild infrastructure.

Local Response And Plan

The Kanawha County Commission has worked with other agencies and community members to assist flood victims. They are still accepting donations, and say they specifically need contractor grade trash bags, bleach, push brooms, and shovels. They do not accept clothing or cash donations. Supply Distribution points are at Belle Town Hall and Chesapeake Town Hall.

On Tuesday, Curbside Debris Collection will begin in Slaughters Creek, Winifrede-Fields Creek, Witcher Creek, Kelly’s Creek, and Horsemill Hollow. The Kanawha County Planning and Development Office is asking that debris be placed off Private Property, onto the road. The office also asks that residents report damage so that official recovery processes can begin.

Community Education Group Delivers Health Kits To Those In Need

The CEG is a non-profit organization with its base of operations in Lost River, West Virginia. The organization focuses on the “syndemic” or synergistic epidemic in Appalachia.

The Community Education Group’s (CEG) community health worker training program graduates and other volunteers recently gathered to assemble and distribute thousands of health kits to those in need.

The CEG is a non-profit organization with its base of operations in Lost River, West Virginia. The organization focuses on the “syndemic” or synergistic epidemic in Appalachia.

A syndemic is the aggregation of two or more concurrent epidemics or disease clusters in a population with interactions that exacerbate the burden of the disease. In West Virginia and Appalachia, those three primary diseases are substance use disorder, HIV and viral hepatitis.

As part of their mission to mitigate the effects of the syndemic, the CEG began CHAMPS, or Community Health and Mobilization Prevention Services. It works to train community health workers (CHW). They are frontline public health workers who are trusted members of the communities they serve.

“We do training on HIV, on substance use disorder, viral hepatitis, and then sort of the basic curriculum for a community health worker,” said Jason Lucas, CEG director of education. “So they provide a linkage to care for community members that otherwise may not have had that linkage and may not seek that care.”

In June, the CEG received nearly five tons of materials for health kits and asked program graduates in Kanawha County to help unload the truck and assemble the kits. The kits included hand sanitizer, compressed towels, reusable metal water bottles, health resource and contact cards, COVID-19 tests, as well as notebooks and pens that were delivered in drawstring backpacks to places of particular need.

“Out of 39 Kanawha and Clay county CHAMPS that we invited, 21 of them participated in at least one day of the three days,” Lucas said. “We had the one day about unloading, a day of building roughly and then the day of distribution. So those three days, better than 50 percent showed up for at least one day.”

Fifteen thousand health kits were assembled with 7,000 distributed in Boone, Clay, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, McDowell, Wyoming and Mingo counties.

Lucas said the best part of the project was letting the CHAMPS graduates take control of the distribution of the health kits.

“It was so cool to watch these kits go out and to see that and people were getting excited. They were coming back for more kits, like, they’re really excited about their successes,” Lucas said. “It was a cool experience.”

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Charleston Area Medical Center and Marshall Health.

Experts Say Understanding Terminology Of Addiction Helps Treat The Disease

The drug epidemic is an ever-evolving hot-button topic with tons of buzzwords. But what does it all mean?

The drug epidemic is an ever-evolving hot-button topic with tons of buzzwords. But what does it all mean? Appalachia Health News Reporter, Emily Rice sat down with Susan Mullens, West Virginia Collegiate Recovery Network project coordinator to discuss terminology.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

Rice: What is the difference between addiction and dependence?

Mullens: Well, addiction is more of a common everyday term that really is its everyday language for substance use disorder. So, substance use disorder is the official name in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. And you know, so we just we throw around the word or use the word in common conversation, addiction. Dependence can mean different things.

Rice: When it comes to dependence, people who are quite literally prescribed something by their doctor can be dependent on it. When does that transfer over into addiction?

Mullens: Well, again, addiction is not a diagnosis. And so it’s, that’s not really an accurate progression of the disease, or a great way to describe it, because people talk about being addicted to a lot of things. But you know, do they meet clinical criteria for a diagnosis, is really the question?

Rice: When we’re talking about how the brain works, and once a person is diagnosed with substance use disorder, what changes?

Mullens: Part of it depends on the substance, part of it depends on how long the person has been using. A lot of times, individuals experience other traumas, there could also be undiagnosed traumatic brain injuries and other things. So it’s really an individualized situation. What we know is that the longer people are engaged in care, the better their long-term outcomes are.

Rice: We hear a lot of words around the drug epidemic conversation, could you explain in your own words, what harm reduction means?

Mullens: Harm reduction can mean a number of different things. And unfortunately, it’s gotten somewhat of a bad rap. And one size doesn’t fit all with regard to harm reduction either, but we do know that individuals who engage with harm reduction programs, formal type programs are five times more likely to enter treatment, and three times more likely to stop using substances. And really, the goal of harm reduction is to meet people where they are along that process because not everyone who uses substances wants to stop.

Rice: Yeah, it really does sound like each situation requires a different response. Is bringing that human element into care effective?

Mullens: Yeah, it’s definitely it’s not a cookie-cutter situation. Everyone has different needs. Everyone has different strengths. And everyone has different goals and aspirations. And you know, that’s what our programs try to do is to meet people where they are and not force, anything, any particular view or any particular pathway on to somebody because, you know, it’s, it’s, we all come with unique situations and need a customized recovery pathway.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Charleston Area Medical Center and Marshall Health.

Recent Statistics Show Decline In Opioid Overdose Rates

According to provisional data, the state’s overdose rate fell from February 2022 to February 2023. The data shows that opioid overdose rates have dropped by approximately 8 percent, marking the most substantial decrease since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recent data from the Office of Drug Control Policy has revealed a decline in opioid overdose rates, marking a positive turn in the fight against the ongoing drug epidemic.

West Virginia overdose rates are slowly falling to pre-pandemic levels. Advocates say while this data is preliminary, this improvement is in part credited to in-person harm reduction services resuming after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Yes, we are seeing less people overdose, and I think there’s a variety of reasons for that,” Michael Haney, director of PROACT, said. “I think West Virginia has done an excellent job in keeping the substance use problem in sight.” PROACT is an addiction treatment center in Huntington.

Health officials attribute the positive trend to a combination of factors, including expanded availability of naloxone, a medication that reverses opioid overdoses, as well as the implementation of harm reduction programs. Harm reduction refers to a set of practical strategies and ideas aimed at reducing negative consequences associated with drug use.

“The drug problem has been there for decades. I think it really didn’t get people’s attention until you suddenly had people in large numbers dying, and you can’t attribute it to anything else, it was obviously the drugs doing it,” Haney said. “I think that calling attention to that, supporting treatment efforts, encouraging people to get into treatment. I think medication-assisted treatment has helped a great deal.”

West Virginia was one of only eight states in the nation predicted to see a decline in overdose fatalities in 2022. While the data is still preliminary, some advocates are encouraged by the success of harm reduction programs and public education since the end of the Public Health Emergency and COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Fatal Overdose Data Dashboard, West Virginia lost 1,453 people to overdose deaths in 2021.

A Changing Landscape

Lyn O’Connell, associate director for the Division of Addiction Sciences at Marshall University’s Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, said it is important to note only four months of data are available for 2023.

“We do know that drug trends vary throughout the annual calendar year with some rhyme and reason and other times without much explanation,” O’Connell said. “We do suspect that drug overdose deaths are changing in that the type of drugs being utilized are changing.”

Of those deaths, 1,146 were attributed to illicitly manufactured fentanyl, 103 to heroin, and 295 to prescription opioids. Overdoses occur with other drug types as well, including stimulants, to which 949 West Virginians lost their lives in 2021.

O’Connell said PROACT, Project Hope and programs like it had made significant amounts of progress in her community in 2019.

“The pandemic destroyed that. We had to pull a lot of people out of public spaces,” O’Connell said. “In general, as a community, people resorted to substance use, because they didn’t have to get up and go to work. It’s often a disease of despair, and it was very easy to feel despair during 2020 and 2021 especially. People lost their jobs, so it might be easy to turn back to drug use or selling drugs.”

In 2019, West Virginia lost 870 lives to drug overdoses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). During the COVID-19 pandemic, from 2019 to 2022, the state’s overdose death rate went from 870 to 1,453, a 67 percent increase.

“So we built on it over the past year, but it was going to take a while for us to see those things go into effect again,” O’Connell said. “I think the hope is that we do stabilize and or see a downward trend.”

Haney said isolation encourages use and is one of the major problems with substance use disorders. Alternatively, peer recovery programs like the ones offered at PROACT, encourage people with substance use disorder to interact with fellow peers in recovery.

“Now that we’re coming out of COVID, we’re back to doing in-person services, people are going too, and a lot of things happen when you do in-person services,” Haney said. “There is that sense of accountability that patients have when they’re going to treatment. They also get to see other people who are in treatment, and they have that sense of shared experience.”

Advocates say a rise in methamphetamine use is concerning and took the lives of 786 West Virginians in 2021.

“There’s other factors, there’s the use of methamphetamine, the use of xylazine, the use of alcohol or marijuana,” O’Connell said. “And so there are other things that impact how we can determine the effectiveness of, or if there is any decrease because there are just so many factors at play.”

Five of the most frequently occurring opioids and stimulants – alone or in combination – accounted for 71.5 percent of overdose deaths in 2021. Illicitly manufactured fentanyl and methamphetamine topped the list with 28.8 percent of deaths.

The use of multiple drugs at once accounted for 52.1 percent of 2021’s overdose deaths on opioids and stimulants.

Erin Winstanley is a research scientist in the department and associate professor at West Virginia University in the Department of Psychiatry.

She also encouraged vigilance, especially against new cutting agents appearing each day.

“I think many clinical researchers and researchers working in the field of addiction are concerned about the increasing number of people using illicitly manufactured fentanyl,” Winstanley said.

While the decline in opioid overdose rates is undoubtedly positive, experts caution against complacency.

“I think from the national perspective, it is too early to say whether overdose deaths are declining,” Winstanley said. “So it does appear that the numbers are on a downward trend. But it isn’t clear if they’re going to return to a pre-pandemic level.”

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Charleston Area Medical Center and Marshall Health.

Contentious Campus Carry Bill Heads To Governor

On this episode of The Legislature Today, between the Roads to Prosperity and the federal infrastructure law, there is a lot going on when it comes to roads and bridges. Curtis Tate speaks with Transportation Secretary Jimmy Wriston and Sen. Charles Clements, R-Wetzel, the chairman of the Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, to discuss the state’s progress.

On this episode of The Legislature Today, emotions ran high and the rhetoric ran long as the House of Delegates debated the contentious campus carry firearms bill. As Government Reporter Randy Yohe reports, the bill was approved in the chamber and is now on its way to the governor.

Also, between the Roads to Prosperity and the federal infrastructure law, there is a lot going on when it comes to roads and bridges. Curtis Tate speaks with Transportation Secretary Jimmy Wriston and Sen. Charles Clements, R-Wetzel, the chairman of the Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, to discuss the state’s progress.

Tuesday was Recovery Advocacy Day at the West Virginia Legislature, the capitol rotunda filled with smiling faces, clear heads and hopeful hearts. The goal was to identify areas related to treatment, prevention and recovery efforts and lobby for important legislation. Randy Yohe has this story.

A bill meant to staff each West Virginia hospital with a qualified sexual assault nurse examiner passed the Senate unanimously and is headed to the governor’s desk. Appalachia Health News Reporter Emily Rice has more.

Finally, the Senate took up a bill that would change how and how much counties pay for inmates they send to the state’s correctional system. Chris Schulz has more.

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The Legislature Today is West Virginia’s only television/radio simulcast devoted to covering the state’s 60-day regular legislative session.

Watch or listen to new episodes Monday through Friday at 6 p.m. on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.