Plymouth county first response to substance use & recovery - plymouth county is the third largest county in massachusetts (POP. 533,000) and registers nearly 10% of overdose deaths in massachusetts…

Plymouth county first response to substance use & recovery - plymouth county is the third largest county in massachusetts (POP. 533,000) and registers nearly 10% of overdose deaths in massachusetts between 2010-2021. In response to the surge in overdoses facing plymouth county, a partnership including the plymouth county district attorney's office (pcdao), signature healthcare brockton hospital, high point treatment center, plymouth county outreach, and regional outreach groups will provide the framework for the plymouth county's first response to substance use and recovery. The goals of the project are to increase education on substance use disorders to reduce the number of opioid-overdose in plymouth county by (1) providing training to first responders and community groups using an opioid overdose response curriculum that will teach bystanders to recognize the signs of an overdose, administer naloxone, CPR and aeds in instances of opioid-induced cardiac arrest. 2) conduct outreach to enhance access and identify gaps in opioid-related education and resources for marginalized populations including those living in the rural areas throughout the county. A medical expert will create and teach opioid overdose response curriculum to project staff and community groups in a "train the trainer" model, at no more than a 10:1 ratio. Trainees will each receive a naloxone nasal spray and a CPR mask to prepare them to response to an opioid overdose event. Plymouth county is the third largest county in massachusetts (POP. 533,000)[1] and registers nearly 10% of overdose deaths in the state between 2010-2021.[2] in 2022, county residents experienced 947 overdoses, of which 125 resulted in fatalities- 76% of which occurred in brockton, middleboro, plymouth, rockland, and wareham which are the more densely populated areas in the county. Twenty percent of plymouth county residents live within the 21 square miles of brockton where nearly 50% of the population speaks a language other than english at home. These languages include spanish, brazilian, portuguese, and haitian creole. Plymouth county has also identified a GAP in services in our rural communities such as halifax, marion, mattapoisett, plympton, and rochester; resources such as recovery facilities, substance use support such as education and resource materials (in english and other languages) are limited or simply do not exist. To address gaps in the availability of opioid-related resources for non-english speaking communities in both urban and rural areas, we will leverage partnerships and resources we have developed in our hardest HIT communities., such as brockton to build the necessary infrastructure to support the local community groups and substance use coalitions serving the rural communities. While these communities do not see most of the overdoses in the county, lack of medical access, increased response time by emts and limited opioid-related resources makes these communities vulnerable to overdose deaths. Plymouth county's first response to substance use and recovery project will assist our county in providing the education and resources to 865 unique individuals throughout four years. Year 1: 150 year 2: 190 year 3: 250 and year 4: 300. This training and education is imperative in preventing deaths caused by opioid overdoses.