Heroin abuse still on the rise in Huntington County and surrounding area

One of the issues that Huntington County still has is the heroin problem, with overdose and intoxication patients. According to Gebert, there were 112 heroin overdose victims that called 911 in 2016, with 35 of those 112 unresponsive and not breathing. Those who were not breathing had to be given Naloxone (Narcan) to combat the heroin.

“We do have a heroin issue,” Gebert said. “I think it’s slowed down the second half (of 2016), but it’s still extremely high when you look at it compared to everyone.”

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “Naloxone is a medication designed to rapidly reverse opioid overdose. It is an opioid antagonist - meaning that it binds to opioid receptors and can reverse and block the effects of other opioids.”

In 2016 there were 83 doses of Narcan administered, which according to Gebert means that most of the overdose victims required several doses of Narcan.

“What that tells us is that not only do we have a lot of heroin, but the heroin we have here is strong,” Gebert said. “It’s laced with Fentanyl, laced with other types of things. Hopefully we can continue educating the public.”

Parkview Huntington has worked with the sheriff’s department, the city police, and the fire departments to get Narcan in their vehicles.

“(We) work with them to get grants through the state and there’s lifeline.org that gives free Narcan to first responders … help them get that paperwork and get the training for all that,” Gebert said.

Huntington County Sheriff Terry Stoffel agreed that since they have been using the overdose drug they have needed more doses of Narcan because the heroin is getting stronger.

“I know in the northern counties where heroin is just starting to take off it’s not as bad,” Stoffel said. “They’re not having the overdoses. Ours is stronger. They could be our supply coming in is from a different place from other place from others, it could be a lot of different reasons, but overall our heroin’s strength is a lot stronger than other places, don’t know why.”

Another drug that the sheriff’s department is starting to see in the community is synthetic cocaine called ICE, which if combated by Narcan has no effect.

Gebert also mentioned that the hospital’s biggest challenge is trying to get more paramedics working for the Parkview Hospitals.

Last reviews showed that there were 600 paramedic position openings in Indiana and that they are unable to get filled or not getting them out quick enough.

“Parkview has been working really hard to come up with recruitment strategies to bring them here,” Gebert said.

Parkview Huntington is offering a higher level of tuition reimbursement to go to paramedic school and are working with those that are already in school.

“It is a tough market out there,” Gebert said. “Parkview Health, as whole, has 15 paramedics position openings. We’re fortunate here (in Huntington) we’ve only got one right now. We have a high tenure of paramedics within our service, that once they get here they want to stay. We’re going to be continually seeing this challenge increase as some of ours that are close to retirement decide to step out.”