Training the trainers to treat overdoses

An overdosing man lies unconscious on the edge of a traffic circle, his lower leg and foot extend onto the circular roadway, and yet cars pass by and no one stops to help.

Perhaps no one driving in those cars could help. But with some help from groups, such as the Aberdeen Rotary Club, maybe they’ll be able to help save such a man, and soon.

Grays Harbor County has had close to 400 overdoses in the last year, according to Aberdeen Police Chief Dale Green. Aberdeen itself has had more than 130 drug overdoses this past year alone. There are still about four and a half months left in 2024. Last year, Aberdeen had more than 200 drug overdoses. On Tuesday, Aberdeen Rotary Club members, The Moore Wright Group, Coastal Community Action Program, Kati Kachman — former Aberdeen City Council president, and others, listened to Larry Kenemore. Kenemore came from Siloam Springs, Arkansas, to speak to the Rotarians and other residents in town at the Pearsall Building about the importance of Naloxone training.

Kenemore, a retired San Diego paramedic with decades of experience, spoke about a personal story that came to him as he pressed upon the attendees the importance of learning how to save a life with Naloxone. The story ended with a woman being saved but then yelling at Kenemore and the other life-saving personnel with him that they wasted the money the woman spent on drugs. Kenemore said drug addiction is a disease and it’s as real a disease as other ones.

With more advanced drugs such as Fentanyl, Kloxxado — eight milligrams of naloxone instead of the four milligrams that Narcan provides — is needed to keep alive the people who overdose on the harder drugs. Fentanyl is prevalent in Aberdeen. Naloxone, carried in Narcan, is still effective, but it can take a few tries to do what Kloxxado can do in one.

The important element to remember about Naloxone, or Kloxxado, is it can keep someone alive, which to Kenemore is the most important part and why training for Naloxone is necessary.

“This is the real reason that Rotary got involved in this,” Kenemore said. “You need to understand when people overdose on these drugs, they stop breathing. The issue is not them overdosing, the issue of them (stopping their) breathing is the real issue because they now have a lack of oxygen to the brain. 92% of everybody that overdose has brain damage. 92% of the people who overdose has brain damage because nobody had Naloxone soon enough to give it to them to start breathing again. The real issue here is hypoxia, (which is) a lack of oxygen to the brain.”

Why do non-EMS residents need to step up? With training, that will start sometime in mid-to-late August, according to Leslie O’Brien of Aberdeen Rotary, more people will be able to help the people who overdose on drugs. And it’s not just hard drugs. It can happen with prescriptions as well.

Kenemore pointed out as clear as he could the fact good Samaritans cannot be sued for trying to help someone with naloxone. He said they’re covered by the Good Samaritan Statutes in Washington state.

Kachman, who works in risk management for a financial institution in town, talked about why she came to the training.

“I think just because of the work that I do on a daily basis, I’m a risk manager, I want to be prepared,” Kachman said. “And so I haven’t had a specific experience where I’ve needed (naloxone) but I feel (it’s) like having a fire extinguisher at home (because) you should have preventative measures for this.”

Kachman has heard Kenemore speak before. She met him at a Rotary District conference in Victoria a little more than a year ago.

“I’ve always been really impressed by what Rotary is doing in this space,” Kachman said. “Not only are they doing this naloxone training, but there’s four other projects that Rotary is working on. This is just kind of a piece of the puzzle. But all of it is fully funded by Rotary International. By having Aberdeen Rotary here kind of sponsoring the project, it’s not taking local dollars from the money we fundraise for to put this on. It’s all done by generous people who are donating to Rotary at an international level.”

Kachman said it was “so impressive” to see so many community members — from Aberdeen Rotary to the other residents — were in attendance.

“It shows there is a need for this within our community,” Kachman said. “Our chief of police is here, a lot of the social service agencies are here, nonprofits are here, people that work with individuals who could come in contact and need this benefit at some point. It’s just a vital project for our community and a way to show our community cares. I think a lot of people can benefit in being trained and holding this in their pocket.”

Contact Reporter Matthew N. Wells at matthew.wells@thedailyworld.com