Hamilton County gets more hands-on in fight against heroin

There will be more hands-on, street level effort throughout Hamilton County starting next month in the fight against heroin.A specialized Quick Response Team will hit the streets on April 3. It is modeled on other QRT's sprinkled around the area such as the ones in Colerain Township, Norwood and Price Hill. However, the new Hamilton County program will be an expanded version funded by a two-year, $400,000 federal grant and will focus on a wider area. Every Tuesday, the team will base in Amberley Village and concentrate on the areas east of Hamilton Avenue. Every Friday, the same team will base in Delhi and fan out across the area west of Hamilton Avenue. According to the Heroin Coalition Task Force, the team will include six deputies "trained on defining and understanding addiction". The overall effort includes folks like Sara Seiter, who is able to relate to those who call the Addiction Services hotline for help. She's been there, so to speak. Seiter is in recovery and talked about her eight years of heroin use, the past five years she has been sober and the work she now does to help those who are struggling with their own drug demons. Bobby Turner shares building space with her at Addiction Services. He, too, is on the frontline of the local opioid crisis. Turner is a recovered heroin addict who will be a part of the county's expanded response effort. He has been with the Colerain Township QRT and stressed the importance of making no judgement about those in treatment who slip back into drug use. "I've had several people that's called back a few times, like, ‘Hey, man. I messed up. Will you help me again?’ And we're always there for them," said Turner. Seiter related how vital it is to connect with callers so they know they're not simply a statistic in the battle against opioid addiction. "It can be a scary situation and that window is real small when they decide that, you know, they want help and it can vanish really quick," she said. County Commissioners heard today how the specialized unit will focus countywide on those who OD and those who might be susceptible to overdose. "I've literally had people cry, ‘Thank you,’" said Tom Fallon of the Heroin Coalition Task Force. "And then you do, you get the door slammed in your face. So all you're doing is asking them what can we do to help you?" We were told about half of the 17,000 calls made annually to Addiction Services are about heroin. Turner regularly distributes his contact information at shelters, recreation centers and libraries. He was in at least five treatment centers before he got clean. He feels fortunate about reclaiming a productive lifestyle free from the harmful hold of heroin. As he begins his rounds in a couple of weeks, he will have a list of folks who have been revived by Narcan. "I'll be knocking on the doors," Turner said. "I'll be one of the first faces they see and we just let them know that we're there to help." A portion of the CARA grant will pay for a research effort by UC to help identify overdose victims so they can be targeted for contact before they fatally overdose. Seiter described her post-drug life as sober and blessed. Turner told us his life now is beyond anything he could have imagined and that he is looking forward to the successes he believes will come as a result of the expanded QRT effort.