Advertisement As ODs spike, Brockton plans expanded resources for addicts By Benjamin Paulin, The Enterprise Share Shares Copy Link Copy

The calls came from the bathroom of a barbershop, inside a Dunkin Donuts and on a MBTA commuter rail train.Reports of dozens of people unconscious, not breathing and turning blue. First responders frantically rushing to locations throughout the city to revive them.The Enterprise said n a span of three days - between Wednesday and Friday - Brockton police, firefighters and EMTs responded to 35 overdoses.The city typically sees about 3 overdoses in a day.Mayor Bill Carpenter said it was a miracle that none of the 35 overdoses were fatal thanks largely to the overdose-reversing drug naloxone, or narcan.He announced this week a plan, called the Champion plan, similar to a program in Gloucester, which he is hopeful will see more addicts getting the treatment they so desperately need.On Saturday, Carpenter was getting hourly updates from the fire department on the situation, which he called a public health crisis.A potent batch of heroin, the powerful painkiller fentanyl or a mixture of the two is believed to be what is causing the spike in overdoses.“We’re following it as closely as we can. Straining our resources. I think it’s a miracle that we haven’t lost a life yet,” Carpenter said.The Champion plan will be in place by mid-to-late February and is aimed at expanding resources for addicts rather than putting them behind bars. A plan similar to the groundbreaking approach put in place by the Gloucester Police Department last year.The city is partnering with local hospitals, treatment centers, doctors and non-profit organizations.“It’s based on the premise that if someone reaches out for help, they don’t get arrested. Instead they get help getting into treatment,” Carpenter said.“We’re incorporating some elements of the Gloucester plan, but we’re also doing some other things that are not on the Gloucester plan and trying to be more proactive, do more outreach, have more points of entry and be able to help more people.”Addicts who go to the Brockton police and fire departments seeking help will not face legal repercussions but will be aided in getting into a treatment facility.Carpenter said including the city's fire departments as so-called safe havens could quell the fears some might have of going to a police station.“Instead of just walking into the police station, you’ll be able to walk into a police or fire station. That’s seven places in the city that somebody could walk into instead of one,” Carpenter said. “We think for some folks that may be struggling with addiction, that may have had some past interaction with the criminal justice system or the police, they may feel more comfortable walking into a fire station.”Another part of the plan is to bypass sending people to hospital emergency rooms and send them directly to treatment facilities.“One of the problems right now is it’s driving more people to the emergency room that’s already bursting at the seems,” Carpenter said. “The most common outcome when someone gets brought to the emergency room is that an hour or two later they walk out with nothing positive happening.”One or two of the safe havens in the city will have a paramedic on hand to perform a medical evaluation to determine if a person is in need of emergency care.“So the paramedic will make a determination right up front as to whether this person is medically at risk right now. If they are, the ambulance is going to the emergency room. But we believe that 8 or 9 out of 10 people seeking treatment are not medically at risk right at that moment. So if they’re not we can keep them out of the emergency room and get them into a save haven,” Carpenter said.In addition, the city is seeking volunteers to serve as “angels” who will assist addicts with the in between time from when they seek help and get to a care center.“That could be a few hours or that could be a day and a half,” Carpenter said. “We are right now recruiting for volunteers to be on the list of angels that could be called to help someone.”In trying to use as many resources at their disposal, the city has also worked out an arrangement with the Brockton VA Medical Center.The VA hospital has an overnight treatment facility for mental health and substance abuse with 123 beds.As part of the Champion plan, each person seeking help will be asked if they served in the military. If they are eligible for VA care they will be sent to their facility, freeing up a bed at another local treatment center, Carpenter said.Dr. Joseph Shrand worries that the spike in overdoses may see even more before things die down as addicts tend to seek out a stronger high.Shrand is the medical director of CASTLE (Clean and Sober Teens Living Empowered), part of the High Point Treatment Center in Brockton.“The scary part of course is there are some people that say ‘There’s a strong batch of heroin out there, I want to try it,’” Shrand said. “That’s an important thing for law enforcement people to know and families to know.”Many addicts get to a point in their addiction where they use not to get high, but to avoid getting sick from withdrawal symptoms, Shrand said.“Thank God we have so many people who know how to use Narcan,” Shrand said. “That is really encouraging is that folks are now educated.”