The community gathered together in the gymnasium of Epsom Central School to begin a conversation about drug abuse Monday.
One of the panelists was Eric Adams, a Laconia police officer whose job title – prevention enforcement treatment officer – points to his specialized role as the point person in that city’s effort to combat the growing problem of substance abuse.
He said the first 24 hours after an overdose can be a critical time for victims to make a life-changing decision. But all too frequently, their first encounter with help comes when they’re nearly dead and dumped on the doorstep of a hospital.
This is referred to as a “drive-by,” he said, and “they see a lot of them at Concord” Hospital.
“The drive-bys are the ones where you pull up, you kick the person out in front of the ER door and you drive off,” he said. “What do you do with that?”
In Laconia, what police did was build relationships with all of the recovery resources and local support groups. After they made connections, they started to intervene.
Now, Adams gets a text message when the hospital takes in an overdose patient and – if the person agrees – Adams comes in and sits down with them. He can help get them set up with insurance and make appointments with resources.
“It’s the small barriers that can be astronomical to someone who’s battling addiction,” he said.
It also resulted in heartfelt connections with people who frequently felt worthless, Adams said. It made sure victims saw a friendly face from the police department at a difficult time.
During his first such meeting, Adams said the person broke down in tears.
“This person looked at me and said you’re the first person in probably the last five years that has actually looked at me as a human being,” he said. “That says volumes.”
Some members of fire department wanted to get involved, too. When an overdose victim comes to, the emergency responders begin the process of the intervention. They’ll say, “ ‘Dude, do you realize you just died pretty much?’ They start that simple conversation,” Adams said.
Afterwards, equally important is following up. Adams said there’s been times when a person has missed an appointment and he’s “gone and hunted the person down, talked with them and driven them to the treatment center.”
In smaller communities without a dedicated police officer, that’s a role that local advocates who want to help can fill, Adams said. He referenced events like drug awareness walks that see hundreds of participants and said those are people who are willing to help.
“It’s hard for a police department of Epsom’s size to take on the task. . . . One of the things I would suggest for the police department and the community is identifying some key people in your community that are willing to make these connections and willing to reach out to someone who has overdosed,” he said.
That was a process that began in the gymnasium on Monday, Adams said in an interview after the presentation.
“Once you start the conversation, you’re going to see there’s going to be a huge buzz,” he said.
Roughly 100 people turned out to the informational session and wrote down questions to be answered by the panel, which also included a firefighter from Laconia, a family liaison from a recovery center and an emergency room doctor from Concord Hospital.
Before the program began, several Epsom officials commented in interviews about the recent revelation out of Pembroke Academy that a dean of students was arrested six weeks ago for heroin possession. But Selectman Hugh Curley, who moderated the discussion, began the night by saying “the situation at Pembroke Academy” was “not something we can address tonight.”