Rehab Director of Admissions Speaks on Fentanyl Epidemic
The coronavirus pandemic saw an increase in opioid-related overdose deaths by 68% in New York state — nearly 5,000 deaths. Dutchess County has the highest drug overdose death rate of all other New York counties, at 43 deaths out of 100,000 people.
To speak on the dangers of fentanyl and the detox/rehabilitation process is Eileen Donohue: the Director of Admissions of Arms Acres for 30 years, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in New York where she oversaw many departments including patient admission along with early assessment.
Over the last 10 years, she saw a drastic increase in patients on fentanyl coming into the facility. “When fentanyl came on the scene, it was so incredibly potent and strong it became more of a problem for people quickly, and the probability that they would overdose and die from it was even higher than heroin,” Donohue said.
Before there was much information circulated about fentanyl, staff had to wear masks and gloves working with these patients since it was so potent.
Patients on fentanyl or other opiates must be assessed using a Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scale. The COWS assessment is an 11-point scale that tracks a patient’s symptoms of withdrawal to measure the severity of their case.
They had two different detox procedures: medically supervised and medically managed. Medically supervised detoxes could take place at the facility, while if someone was going through more severe withdrawals, they’d have to be taken to the hospital for a medically managed detox.
Arms Acres also performs a biopsychosocial evaluation, which considers occupation, family life, socioeconomic status, and many other factors that could contribute to one’s addiction.
She said some of the most common reasons people overdose on fentanyl is because it is laced with other pills or even marijuana. “This is often time where the overdoses come from, especially with kids, using drugs that they don’t realize are laced with fentanyl,” she explained.
When asked about clean injection sites and other solutions, “Having come from the treatment side, I would say yes, giving people clean needles and places they can use safely is a pretty good harm reduction program,” Donohue said. “But what I think is needed most is more education earlier in schools and the ability for patients to seek treatment more easily, like more places to do detoxes,” she continued.
She would also like to see the availability of Narcan continue to grow. “It saves lives, so I think there should be an abundance of that so people can get it everywhere,” she said.
