Knocking On Doors To Get Opioid Overdose Survivors Into Treatment
Within days of an OD from opioids or other drugs, users in Huntington, W.Va., are visited by a quick-response team at home, the hospital or in jail. Reversing an OD is just recovery's first step.
Larrecsa Cox is a paramedic, but instead of an ambulance with flashing lights and sirens, she drives around in an old, white sedan.
Her first call on a recent day in Huntington, W.Va, was to a quiet, middle-class neighborhood.
"He overdosed yesterday," Cox says. "And I think we've been here before. I'm almost 100 percent sure we've been to this house before."
Cox is the only full-time member of Huntington's new quick-response team â a collaborative project involving law enforcement, the county's medical first responders and several drug treatment providers.
The goal in this community is simple: Track down people who've recently survived drug overdoses; visit them at home, a hospital or even in jail; and tell them how to get help.
