PUTNAM COUNTY, W.Va. — One of the newest quick response teams or QRTs to get up and running in West Virginia is operating now in Putnam County.
This coming Thursday will be the third for team members working in the field to respond to reported drug overdoses.
“The clients are usually overwhelmed (with) just the thought of someone caring enough to follow up with them,” said Tina Ramirez, director of the Great Rivers System for Addiction Care within Marshall Health.
Great Rivers brings together more than 70 organizations in Putnam County, Cabell County, Jackson County and Kanawha County to support people affected by substance use disorder.
Putnam County’s QRT is the last of those counties to establish a QRT, a several member team made up of emergency response personnel, law enforcement officers and substance use treatment or recovery providers.
Generally, the teams contact residents 24 to 72 hours after reported drug overdoses to offer and potentially assist with recovery support.
That could include referrals or treatment options for those interested.
“Ideally, we would love it if everyone, at the moment that we step into their porch or at their house, is ready for treatment or needs those services,” Ramirez said.
“A lot of times, that’s not what happens on the first visit.”
For people not initially interested, QRT members maintain contact and provide information about available services and, in some cases, naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal medication, along with training on how to use it.
“Every client’s a little bit different,” Ramirez told MetroNews.
“Ultimately, it’s helping link them back into society and letting them know that the community cares about them and telling them about what resources are available in the community whenever they’re ready.”
Involved in the Putnam County QRT were Putnam County EMS, the Putnam County Health Department, CAMC-Teays Valley, Family Care, First Choice Services, Jade’s Landing, Marshall Health, Prestera, Putnam Wellness Coalition, Regional Family Resource Network, Teays Valley Church of God and The Rock.
“We talked about it coming down the pike for a while and to really see it coming into view, I think, was a welcome change for Putnam County,” Ramirez said.
The Putnam QRT has regularly scheduled outreach, following up on overdose calls, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursdays.
The team’s assistance, though, can be accessed prior to overdoses by email at putnamqrt@gmail.com or Facebook on the Putnam County QRT page.
Since the launch in late February, Ramirez said one Putnam QRT client had been referred to treatment.
Last June, the state Department of Health and Human Resources reported QRTs were in operation or heading in that direction in more than 20 counties.
The first QRT in West Virginia was established in Cabell County in 2017.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed Cabell County’s fatal drug overdose rate fell 24 percent from 2017 to 2018. Between 2017 and 2019, non-fatal overdose calls in Cabell County dropped by 52 percent.
In Putnam County, drug-related overdoses “steadily” increased in 2019 and 2020, according to the West Virginia Office of Drug Control Policy.
A mobile unit was part of future plans for the Putnam County QRT to provide safe meeting places for services outside of homes.