Tarrant County's MedStar in collaboration with the Recovery Resource Council are celebrating the success of their program designed to address the growing concern of overdose cases within their community.
Between January 2022 and January 2024, MedStar crews have been on the front lines, administering aid to 1,628 individuals suspected of experiencing an overdose. That's an average of a little more than two overdose calls per day.
While MedStar works to save lives in those moments, it turns out, it's just the beginning of the fight against overdoses.
"Peer counseling has been proven to be very effective in getting people to be able to kick a potential habit that they have that could lead to overdose," says Matt Zavadsky, Chief Transformation Officer at MedStar. "The Recovery Resource Council here in Tarrant County has an amazing peer counseling program. However, it's sometimes difficult for them to identify potential people that might want to (participate)."
So in the days after an overdose, MedStar refers that patient to their community health program along with the Resource Recovery Council.
"Within 24 hours to 48 hours, they go visit that patient and their family with the community paramedic, with a peer counselor from the Recovery Resource Council to try and enroll them in a peer counseling program," Zavadsky explains. "And in many cases, those patients are willing to do it because they say, 'Gosh, you know, I almost died yesterday, and now the family's involved.'"
Zavadsky says that over 500 patients have been enrolled in the program over the past two years, and agreed to participate in peer counseling.
"They've had tremendous results," he says.
He emphasized an impressive 88% reduction in 911 calls related to overdoses from the enrolled population, exceeding expectations.
Plus there are other protective measures taken during their outreach, including providing families with life-saving resources such as CPR instructions and NARCAN kits to address potential future incidents.
"Everybody's benefiting, the patients, the families, the healthcare system, the first responders," Zavadsky beams.
Zavadsky also stressed the importance of having NARCAN readily available, particularly for individuals using prescription medication, as a preventive measure for accidental overdoses. NARCAN is now available over-the-counter.
If you or someone you know is dealing with substance abuse here are some resources:
The Recovery Resource Council
SAMHSA National Helpline: 1-800-662-4357
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