ST IGNATIUS — Unfortunately, the fentanyl crisis in Montana is not going away anytime soon. But there are organizations that continue the fight everyday to save lives from opioid addiction.
Tribal Health is committed to spreading awareness and increasing availability of resources in order to decrease fentanyl deaths on the Flathead Indian Reservation. Particularly, their work expands access to Narcan.
Narcan is a medicine that quickly reverses the effect of an opioid overdose. The medicine is safe to use as it will have no effect unless the patient is actually suffering an overdose. One of the most common forms of Narcan is a nasal spray.
The Tribal Health Opioid Response Grants team is focused on opioid-related issues on the reservation. They allocate federal funds given from the Substance Abuse and Mental health Services Administration as a result of national lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies.
The response team’s latest purchase was emergency narcan dispensary boxes, which will provide free, public accessibility to the medicine.
“We were trying to think of how we could get it into places where it's more easily accessible without people having to come into a program or to a pharmacy to get it,” Kathy Ross, Tribal Health Opioid Response Grant manager, says.
The boxes will be mounted in public spaces, including police departments and churches, and will be stocked with two doses of Narcan. The box is connected to an alarm system to alert nearby community members or law enforcement. The alarm can be set to automatically ring, or be turned on manually, depending on the organization’s wishes.
The Montana Good Samaritan Law protects those seeking help for an opioid overdose from prosecution.
One of the first of the emergency Narcan boxes was mounted at the St. Ignatius Police Department. Chief Jason Acheson says it was a partnership he didn’t hesitate to agree to.
“People are naturally, by instinct, when there’s a problem, they call the police, or they’re going to go look for an officer or a firefighter or an EMT, so with this being here, this being somewhat centrally located, it’s kind of an ideal place to have a Narcan emergency dispenser box.”
Calls for a fentanyl overdose is almost a daily occurrence for Acheson, and he sees the drug’s effects continue to worsen in his community.
“Fentanyl is going to be something you’re going to encounter everyday. It’s prevalent, and it’s spreading in this community like cancer.”
The Tribal Health Opioid Response Grant purchased ten Narcan boxes and will focus on mounting them in St. Ignatius, Dixon and Pablo.
The mission with the accessible Narcan is to meet people where they are at, providing life-saving measures before rehabilitation or recovery options.
“We can’t help someone that is deceased,” James Steele Jr, Tribal Health Opioid Response Grant director, says.
Both Steele and Ross have had several loved ones become addicted to opioids, and they know first hand the toll it can have on families.
“You feel helpless. You just feel helpless, that’s the biggest thing I can say,” Steele says.
Steele’s son became addicted to heroin about 6 years ago, at a time when Steele knew little about opioid addiction. He connected with Ross to learn more about what his son was going through and found a passion for helping others like him.
“It kind of goes back to that cultural value in our native community that we watch out for each other,” he says.
Ross’s daughter is addicted to opioids. She says the experience is a common similarity between many Flathead Indian Reservation families.
“You know we live here, these are our people, our nieces and nephews, our sons and daughters, our children, our grandchildren that are experiencing this. There isn’t any family on the reservation that hasn’t been impacted by this in some way.”
Ross hopes that all Montanans will get into the habit of carrying Narcan, as one would a first aid kit.
“It’s what we have available to use to keep people alive.”
Narcan can be picked up from Tribal Health for free. St Ignatius Police Department often hosts Narcan training for the public and will post upcoming events on their Facebook page.
