KINGWOOD — Preston County is working to expand its Quick Response Team (QRT) by training more coaches, according to VJ Davis, director of the Preston County Health Department.
He said the program would be run by Preston Prevention.
Davis said members of the Preston County Commission contacted him about the program and asked what it would cost to fund it. He said funding could come from the $599,802.64 check the commission received from the Opioid Settlement Funds. This first check represented only 24.5% of the funds due the commission.
Dr. Fred Conley, county health officer, said QRT coaches are recovering addicts who go through 500 hours of training and understand what the patients are going through, and provide an integrated response to help connect individuals who experience an opioid overdose with treatment and recovery services.
Davis said there is currently one coach who works in the Preston Memorial Hospital Emergency Room (ER).
“Whenever someone overdoses and goes to the emergency room, within 48 hours the QRT team coach will contact the patient about rehab,” he said. “The quicker a coach gets to a patient the quicker they can try to talk them into to going to rehabilitation.”
Conley said a lot of time when EMS goes out and gives naloxone to a patient and they come to, they don’t want to go to the ER. He said said if a QRT coach is on hand they have a better chance of talking the patient into considering rehab.
Naloxone, also known as Narcan is an over-the-counter drug that’s used to treat known or suspected opioid overdoses. It blocks certain receptors in the body that opioids bind to. Blocking receptors helps reverse the symptoms of opioid overdose.
Conley said if the funding is found for the program, the coaches could be housed in the basement of the proposed multipurpose building.
Davis said he recently spoke with Sheena Hunt, director of Region VI, about helping to find funds for the proposed new building.
“Sheena said she believes she can help us find maybe not all, but some funding for the project,” he said. “She said sometime within the next couple of weeks she would like to have a meeting with members of the county commission, WIC, the Extension office, and the health department about funding for the building project.”
The next meeting of the Preston County Board of Health will be March 14. Time and place will be announced later.
