AtlantiCare, Hammonton Police join forces against opioid abuse
Page 4 • Wednesday, September 11, 2019 • The Hammonton Gazette
OPIOID, from Page 1
them was the distribution of nalox-
one—a drug used to reverse opi-
oid overdose, colloquially known
by one brand name, Narcan—at
each of atlantiCare’s five pharma-
cies in the region.
“We are distributing Narcan at
no cost to the community to try to
get this into more individuals’
hands, to try and have a much big-
ger impact on reducing overdose-
related deaths,” Gloria Seel,
Senior Director for addiction
Services at atlantiCare, said.
Narcan can be an expensive
medication, but atlantiCare was
able to secure funding from
donors robert and Helene Hordes
to ensure free distribution.
“they were inspired from their
own personal experiences to really
help others. there’s a stigma put
on individuals that may have Sub-
stance abuse Disorder, and they
really wanted to reinforce that this
can happen to anyone. individuals
across all walks of life may en-
counter experiences, and they
wanted to make sure that everyone
had the ability to access this life-
saving drug,” Samantha Kiley, ex-
ecutive Director of atlantiCare
Foundation, said.
the five pharmacies—two in
Galloway, two in atlantic City and
one in Manahawkin—gave Nar-
can to anyone requesting it, no
questions asked. that, however,
was not the only way that atlanti-
Care was attempting to reach out
to people.
“a lot of the focus is really
around the use of our recovery
specialists to do foot outreach and
connect with individuals who are
using substances or have recently
overdosed, and have a discussion
about what their use looks like,
their interest in recovery, treatment
options, and really doing target ef-
forts to help people enter treatment
if that’s something that they’re in-
terested in,” Seel said.
to that end, atlantiCare’s recov-
ery specialists were on hand at
each of the five locations to talk
with anyone requesting Narcan, if
they so desired.
“Our recovery specialists are a
part of that. they’re assisting the
pharmacy team in trainings and
giving people information about
treatment options and recovery
options, and just there to talk to
people from a place of their expe-
rience, and what recovery looked
like for them,” Seel said.
representatives from atlanti-
Care were also present in each
community in atlantic County on
august 30.
“the other aspect of the day in
working to reduce overdose deaths
is the acknowledgement that there
are many individuals in our com-
munity that are often called to the
scene of an overdose, so part of
that was acknowledging our first
responders,” Kiley said.
these representatives went to
police, fire and eMS departments
throughout the county to show ap-
preciation for their being the first
line of defense in opioid recovery.
“We’ve been dropping off little
care packages which include soft
pretzels and notes that acknowl-
edge their effort, and really their
willingness to go an extra step to
be able to respond to many of
these individuals,” Kiley said.
Karen Cooper, Senior addic-
tions therapist, and Beth Gibney,
Financial analyst, were the two
representatives in Hammonton.
they met with Hammonton Police
Chief Kevin Friel and other mem-
bers of the department who were
appreciative of their gesture.
“Opioid addiction is a problem
that hits every community, even
ours. all of our officers are
equipped with Narcan, which is
provided through a county grant,
and we receive replenishment
through the county, so that we’re
here to save anyone in our com-
munity, citizens and visitors alike.
We’re equipped to help save
lives,” Friel said.
Cooper works at atlantiCare
Behavioral Health in Hammonton,
which Seel said takes an integrated
approach to outpatient care.
“anyone can go in there for any
psychiatric diagnosis that they
have, and receive services for be-
havioral health or addiction... We
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