Snohomish County fights to reduce opiate overdose deaths

EVERETT — It’s been an alarming trend that’s continued for several years — Snohomish County has some of the state’s highest death rates from opiate overdoses.

“Snohomish County is sort of at the epicenter of the opioid problem in Washington state,” said Dr. Gary Goldbaum, health officer for the Snohomish Health District.

Last year, the public health agency said heroin deaths reached epidemic levels. From 2011 through 2013, Snohomish County accounted for nearly one in five of the state’s heroin fatalities.

The public health agency is taking steps it hopes will reduce drug overdoses and deaths as well as help people get treatment.

The health district plans to hire an employee who would contact emergency room patients after they’ve been treated for an overdose at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett.

The patient, with their permission, will be told how they can access the overdose antidote naloxone. It helps block the effects of overdoses from heroin and prescription pain medications, such as oxycodone, Vicodin and codeine.

It can be purchased without a prescription for about $125 at 10 area pharmacies and an Everett nonprofit, The AIDS Outreach Project/ Snohomish County Syringe Exchange.

“We know the folks at highest risk for overdose are those who had a previous overdose,” Goldbaum said. “While we want everyone addicted to get into treatment, we don’t want them to die before they get into treatment.”

Although administering naloxone can be life-saving, it also puts the patient into acute withdrawal, with symptoms such as nausea, sweating, shaking and agitation.

Julie Zarn, Providence’s regional director of emergency and critical care, called the heroin epidemic a public health crisis.

Last year, 2,390 patients were treated at the hospital for problems with opioids or narcotics. Since 2014, 63 percent of the 6,932 patients treated for opioid or narcotic problems were under 30.

“We agreed we would get patient consent and say, ‘Here’s what happened with you today. We’re really worried about you in the future,’” Zarn said.

Hospital staff will tell the patient of the hospital’s relationship with public health officials, which can follow up with them and offer resources.

That includes having the health district employee see if the patient is interested in being referred for drug treatment.

Other parts of the health district’s program include helping physicians prescribe opioids appropriately and notifying them when a medication they approved was used in an overdose.

“Unfortunately, a lot of physicians aren’t aware that they may be prescribing more of these drugs than necessary,” Goldbaum said. “That can lead to people getting the drugs legitimately and ending up overdosing.”

Pain medications prescribed for patients having dental or surgical procedures can be misused when medications are stored in medicine cabinets.

They can be found by children or diverted for misuse into the community, Goldbaum said.

The health district also plans to begin tabulating nonfatal overdoses each quarter, information that will be shared with the state Department of Health.

Snohomish County joins Clallam County, which established a program to try to slow opioid deaths last year.

The two counties may be joined by Mason County in sharing $182,000 in grant money from the state health department to help pay for the pilot opioid programs.

“We have a problem that is similar to Snohomish County — really high rates of opiate deaths,” said Dr. Chris Frank, health officer for Clallam County Health and Human Services on the Olympic Peninsula. “It is probably the most visible public health problem in our community.”

Some 70 percent of overdoses in Clallam County involve heroin, the remainder are caused by prescription pain medications. Yet it’s a struggle to find money to pay for programs to help reduce overdoses and deaths, Frank said.he said.

Grants have paid for naloxone to be distributed free at needle exchanges to help stop the spread of HIV and hepatitis C.

A program to report both fatal and non-fatal overdoses to that public heath agency began in January of last year. Drug treatment and counseling is offered to overdose patients who are interested, he said.

Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486; salyer@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Trader Joe’s customers walk in and out of the store on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Trader Joe’s opens this week at Everett Mall

It’s a short move from a longtime location, essentially across the street, where parking was often an adventure.

Ian Bramel-Allen enters a guilty plea to second-degree murder during a plea and sentencing hearing on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Deep remorse’: Man gets 17 years for friend’s fatal stabbing in Edmonds

Ian Bramel-Allen, 44, pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder for killing Bret Northcutt last year at a WinCo.

Firefighters respond to a small RV and a motorhome fire on Tuesday afternoon in Marysville. (Provided by Snohomish County Fire Distrct 22)
1 injured after RV fire, explosion near Marysville

The cause of the fire in the 11600 block of 81st Avenue NE had not been determined, fire officials said.

Ashton Dedmon appears in court during his sentencing hearing on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett Navy sailor sentenced to 90 days for fatal hit and run

Ashton Dedmon crashed into Joshua Kollman and drove away. Dedmon, a petty officer on the USS Kidd, reported he had a panic attack.

A kindergarten student works on a computer at Emerson Elementary School on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘¡Una erupción!’: Dual language programs expanding to 10 local schools

A new bill aims to support 10 new programs each year statewide. In Snohomish County, most follow a 90-10 model of Spanish and English.

Logo for news use featuring the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Woman drives off cliff, dies on Tulalip Reservation

The woman fell 70 to 80 feet after driving off Priest Point Drive NW on Sunday afternoon.

Everett
Boy, 4, survives fall from Everett fourth-story apartment window

The child was being treated at Seattle Children’s. The city has a limited supply of window stops for low-income residents.

People head out to the water at low tide during an unseasonably warm day on Saturday, March 16, 2024, at Lighthouse Park in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett shatters record high temperature by 11 degrees

On Saturday, it hit 73 degrees, breaking the previous record of 62 set in 2007.

Snohomish County Fire District #4 and Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue respond to a motor vehicle collision for a car and pole. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene, near Triangle Bait & Tackle in Snohomish. (Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office)
Police: Troopers tried to stop driver before deadly crash in Snohomish

The man, 31, was driving at “a high rate of speed” when he crashed into a traffic light pole and died, investigators said.

Alan Dean, who is accused of the 1993 strangulation murder of 15-year-old Bothell girl Melissa Lee, appears in court during opening statements of his trial on Monday, March 18, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
31 years later, trial opens in Bothell teen’s brutal killing

In April 1993, Melissa Lee’s body was found below Edgewater Creek Bridge. It would take 27 years to arrest Alan Dean in her death.

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Snohomish in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Man dies after crashing into pole in Snohomish

Just before 1 a.m., the driver crashed into a traffic light pole at the intersection of 2nd Street and Maple Avenue.

Bodies of two men recovered after falling into Eagle Falls near Index

Two men fell into the falls and did not resurface Saturday, authorities said. After a recovery effort, two bodies were found.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.