Sallisaw NOW Coalition making strides to combat fentanyl overdose deaths

Slowly but surely, when it comes to fentanyl and opioid overdoses in Sequoyah County, Sallisaw NOW Coalition is overcoming denial and resistance.

The organization, which is currently funded by five grants totaling more than $1.2 million per year, credits education and Naloxone (brand name Narcan).

But when Sallisaw NOW first began its fentanyl awareness campaign, it was not well received by residents.

“We got a lot of pushback,” Sallisaw NOW Coalition Special Projects Coordinator Micki Kimble told community leaders Wednesday at the Sallisaw Chamber of Commerce’s monthly membership luncheon held at United Faith Church. “They’d say, ‘Oh, we don’t have those kind of people here. We don’t need that.’

“But as the years progressed, more people became open to being trained in this, to knowing information.”

In the first year of Sallisaw NOW’s grant funding to help remediate the effects of an overdose, only 310 two-dose packages of Narcan were distributed. But in the second year, it was 1,057 packages. In the third and fourth years of the program, 954 and 935, respectively, were distributed. In addition during the first four years of the grant funding, Sallisaw NOW Coalition has trained more than 4,100 individuals (3,092 in the fourth year alone) at identifying an overdose.

“We consider that a success,” Kimble said.

“One of the things that really propelled [the importance of Narcan] was the overdose that happened at Webbers Falls school on school property during school hours [in February],” Kimble told the chamber members. “Thankfully, Gore is super close to Webbers Falls, and we had provided Gore with Narcan, so Gore responded to the situation, and Webbers Falls had seven students overdose at the school. That kind of opened some eyes.

“[After that] We were invited to come and talk to all the schools in our county. We got to have face-to-face time with kids. They got to ask us questions. We were able to answer them. We were able to get news and education out because of what happened at Webbers Falls.”

Micki Kimble

So why is fentanyl so dangerous?

“It only takes 2 milligrams of fentanyl to kill someone,” Kimble said, echoing the cautionary information Sallisaw NOW has presented at all county schools to emphasize how lethal the potent synthetic opioid drug is — 100 times more potent than morphine, and 50 times more potent than heroin. “We have the campaign ‘One pill can kill, a half a pill can kill, a fourth a pill can kill.’ It just depends on how much fentanyl is in that pill. When distributors are making fentanyl, they’re not measuring it, they’re not making sure there’s less than 2 milligrams. They have no clue of the amount that’s in each pill.

“So when we look at how big of a problem it is for Sequoyah County, there are 77 counties in Oklahoma. Sequoyah County is currently 20th for overdose deaths, which is not good,” Kimble said. “But when we initially wrote the grant [application], Sequoyah County was seventh. When we secured the grant we were 11th, and now, three years later, we’re 20th. We’d like to keep our number getting bigger. We would love to be at 77th and be able to report zero. We’ve seen that increase, hopefully, because people are not using substances, that’s what we’d like to say. Hopefully we’re getting preventative help, recovery help and all these things working to create that change that we’re seeing.

“Our goal is to make all community members first responders in the event of an opioid overdose. Oklahoma has the Good Samaritan law, which covers you legally if you administer Narcan to someone because you thought they were having an overdose. They can’t come back and try to press legal charges or sue you because you were helping in the case of an emergency. There’s no liability in that,” Kimble told the chamber gathering.

“Because we have it as a free resource to the community and it’s so easy to use, we would hate for someone to need it and not have it. With the amount of fentanyl in our communities now, it takes about two minutes to overdose. So in the time it takes for an ambulance to get there, we could be losing lives if we don’t have Narcan readily available.

“We encourage all homes to have it, all schools, all businesses, because you never know what situation is going to arise where you may need it,” she said.

And, Kimble points out, administering Narcan is easy and harmless.

“The good thing about this is you cannot hurt somebody at all. If they were not having an overdose and you gave it to them, it would just give them a runny nose. It’s not going to hurt someone if I give it to them. I can give as many Narcan as I need before the ambulance gets there. So depending on the amount of fentanyl, it can take several doses. So I can give a spray every two minutes until I run out or until the ambulance gets there. It’s not going to do anything bad.

“It’s simple to use, it’s just a nasal spray. It would be like the allergy spray that you would get at Walmart. Take it out of the box, pull the seal, hold it in your fingers, put it in one nostril and push the button. And you’ve just administered Narcan. Super easy, takes the guesswork out. It’s only effective if there’s an opioid present. It won’t do anything bad if they’re not having an overdose,” Kimble explained.

“It’s used as a recovery tool only. It doesn’t take the place of going to the hospital or emergency care. It’s just something that’s used until we can get them that help.

“If you need it, it’s a good resource. I would hate for somebody to have to use it. But with as many substances as we’re seeing on the streets, it could be valuable.

“When we were kids, we made some dumb decisions, but now our kids run the risk of dying from trying something one time,” she warned.

As part of its campaign to educate the public, Sallisaw NOW Coalition also presents:

• Hidden in Plain Sight — A program that provides a venue to reach parents and area schools about what to look for in identifying opioids

• Can You Spot the Fake — An online quiz that raises awareness to dangers individuals face when taking medication not prescribed by a physician • Opioid Goggles — A hands-on tool that uses fatal vision goggles to simulate the effects of heavy opioid misuse

• ODMAP — The Overdose Mapping and Application Program (ODMAP) provides near real-time suspected overdose surveillance data Sallisaw NOW Coalition meets at 2 p.m. the third Thursday of each month at the Wheeler Event Center (behind the chamber of commerce building).

Member of the Month

The Sallisaw Chamber of Commerce announced Premier Primary Care as its May Member of the Month.

Staff members for Premier Primary Care accept the May Member of the Month plaque from Sallisaw Chamber of Commerce president Nikki Garrett. LYNN ADAMS | TIMES

Premier Primary Care, owned and operated by Dr. Chris Orendorff, is a family practice clinic for both wellness and acute care visits. The clinic employs 15 full-time staff, including four nurse practitioners, and serves thousands of patients across the region.

Orendorff, a Sallisaw native and 2009 graduate of the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, began his medical practice in 2012 in Sallisaw at Sequoyah Memorial Hospital-The Redwood Clinic. When his practice outgrew the space at the clinic, he purchased the medical office at 1109 E. Cherokee.

Since Premier Primary Care’s opening in 2014, patient volume and clinic needs have grown, which necessitated three phases of add-ons to the building.

Upcoming events

• Memorial Day ceremonies 11 a.m. May 29, Sallisaw City Cemetery, sponsored by American Legion Post 27

• Main Street Market 4-8 p.m. June 1, downtown on Oak Street (first Thursdays June through September)

• Annual Legislative Luncheon at noon June 28 at Carl Albert State College’s J.T. Stites Multi-Purpose Room

• Fireworks will be presented on July 4 at Sallisaw High School, sponsored by the chamber and the city

About Sallisaw NOW Coalition

Sallisaw NOW Coalition began in 2007, with the City of Sallisaw becoming the fiscal agent in 2015. At the time, it consisted of only one grant, Drug Free Communities, which was $125,000 per year. The organization now consists of five grants with more than $1.2 million per year in funding.

The NOW team is able to provide Narcan trainings, alcohol compliance checks, bullying prevention and drug prevention programs in schools countywide. It also sponsors youth coalitions at Sallisaw, Central and Gans high schools; provides the county with three prescription drug drop box locations; and gives out free medication lockboxes and Naloxone. In the past year alone, Sallisaw NOW has given out 800 boxes of the life-saving drug Naloxone.

In addition, one of NOW’s grants lets the organization partner with almost all countywide rural fire departments and law enforcement agencies. Sallisaw NOW Coalition also presented a scared-straight mock car crash demonstration in March at Sallisaw High School, heightening awareness of the consequences of distracted driving and driving under the influence.