Their appears to be no light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to overdose deaths. Our community experienced two deaths within days. Both victims knew each other and all indications are they were aware of the risks involved .
On August 16, 2019 a 44 year old Chicago woman was transported to Condell Hospital in Libertyville and later pronounced dead.
On August 18, 2019 officers responded to same same address for a report of a non responsive male subject. The 44 year old Round Lake Park resident was pronounced dead at the scene.
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We are doing a better job at keeping statistics. The question is, are we putting a dent in the sales, consumption and deaths attributed to overdoses?
Breakdowns in the system that was set up locally to address this problem have begun to steadily rise. Police officers who are on the front lines are questioning problems that have begun to effect programs that were put in place to save lives and provide options for treatment.
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A few weeks ago an entire family knocked on the door of our police department seeking assistance for a family member. Walking into a police department to ask for this type of help is no easy task. Being told that we can’t offer that help is disastrous in so many ways. The police officer was told by Heath Department Officials that they couldn’t provide them assistance because of out of state insurance issues.
On a Saturday night at 10:30 PM someone had the courage to finally take a step towards recovery, was turned away because of bureaucracy. To the officers credit she tried every avenue possible to get this individual help.
I contacted some of my former colleagues on the Opioid Task Force who back channeled the process and within 24 hours got this individual assistance.
The initial reason I became involved in the overdose problem was because my community as well as other financially challenged communities were experiencing consistent increases in overdose deaths. Often ignored because of demographics and socio economics no one was listening.
I was fortunate to team up with several individuals that did listen and were genuinely committed to recognizing this increasing problem. In the blink of an eye this became a “national crises”.
I sincerely believe that the original founders of our local program are still committed to its success. I’m not certain how committed the rest of the system is.
Even during the current crises treatment is still available.
