Trumbull records 189 overdoses in March

Staff report

WARREN

Trumbull County in March recorded the highest number of opioid overdoses in one month, according to the Trumbull County Mental Health and Recovery Board.

Statistics provided by the board said there were 189 heroin overdoses in March in the county, far surpassing the 73 in January and 45 in February.

The board said unofficially 39 people died from overdoses so far this year, with 26 of those deaths in March and eight others since April 1.

Eric Ungaro, a teacher at Howland High School and a Poland Township trustee, lost his brother to an overdose in 2012 and has since become an advocate for increasing awareness and reducing stigma about overdoses.

Now that most people are aware of the issue, he said the next step is figuring out how to stop it.

“It’s just not slowing down,” Ungaro said. “It’s everywhere. It’s obviously not just Trumbull County.”

Ungaro taught in Youngs- Youngstown schools in the ’90s during the crack epidemic, and said it seemed like the schools were able to help. He’s hoping in his role as a teacher, educating students will help to solve the problem.

“I think from an educational standpoint, you’ve got to get in the schools,” Ungaro said. “I’m not saying we’re at the point of no return, but we’ve got to break the cycle at some point.”

A news release Tuesday from the Trumbull County board attributed the rise in overdoses and heroin usage to the over-prescription of opiate-based painkillers, which gets people addicted to opioids who then often turn to heroin when their access to pills runs out because it is cheaper.

Sandy Swann, director of nursing for the Trumbull County Combined Health District, said the problem is so severe that the state has had to help.

“This is a serious concern to us as this is becoming a major public health epidemic,” Swann said in the release. “It is exhausting our local resources, and the Ohio Department of Health has had to assist us with these resources.”

April Caraway, executive director of the board, said heroin users have transitioned to fentanyl, an opioid-based painkiller more powerful than heroin.

“We have screened people who bought and used what they thought was heroin and they screened negative for it but positive for straight synthetic fentanyl,” Caraway said.

Of the 189 who overdosed in March, almost all were revived with the overdose antidote nalaxone, the release said.

Another issue is the prescription of opioids. People who get addicted often are abruptly stopped without being eased off of the pain medication, so they turn to street drugs to combat withdrawal symptoms and pain.

Doctors are the key to properly getting people off pain meds, said Frank Migliozzi, Trumbull County Combined Health District commissioner.

“This is going to be a focus of ours to deal with directly,” he said. “We can make a positive impact to this epidemic.”