The Florida Fire Department helps drug overdose victims

by Junna Base November 8, 2024

Daytona Beach police officers Caleb Carman and Craig Petty say it feels good to save the lives of people who have overdosed on drugs, but it’s the follow-up visits where they show up in plain clothes and without handcuffs that that really brighten everyone’s day.

Both men work for the Drug Abuse Response Team. They convey messages of concern and compassion and work with victims to give them the help they need to fully recover and live healthier lives.

“The best medicine of all is love and compassion,” said Karen Chrapek, executive director of the Volusia Recovery Alliance. “If you ask about the DART team, this is one of the greatest benefits of law enforcement because they can bring compassion to those who are suffering and help open the door to recovery.”

Petty agreed.

“The best part is when we can actually go out again after they’re helped at the hospital and they’re stable,” Petty said. “We meet them at home or wherever they live and just say, ‘Listen, I was there, I was the one who narcantized you. We’re here to make sure you’re okay.’”

The DART team includes firefighter paramedics, nurses, drug counselors and police officers. Narcan is a powerful anecdote for overdoses, and when administered in a timely manner, the drug saves lives.

DART was launched in 2019 by the Daytona Beach Fire Department’s Community Paramedicine Program as a strategy to better respond to a growing opioid epidemic after studies showed a lack of services to help opioid overdose victims from crisis to recovery said Daytona Beach Fire Department Chief Dru Driscoll.

Travis Anderson, a former firefighter paramedic and nurse who now oversees and coordinates the DART program, said team members look for overdose victims referred to them by first responders. A person brought back from a near-death experience with Narcan is obviously someone who needs help, Anderson said.

“We go out and look at it not as a criminal thing, but more of a disease,” Anderson said. “And we are doing what we can to support the recovery process.”

DART also works with nurses from Halifax Health Medical Center and substance abuse counselors from Stewart Marchman to help overdose victims who voluntarily accept recovery help.

DART team members visit a victim within 48 hours of an overdose to offer assistance, Anderson said.

Although the police officers ensure the safety of the team, their knowledge of the community is also an asset and has contributed to the success of the outreach program.

Carman, who has worked at DART since 2021, said the plainclothes follow-up visits have made it easier for overdose victims to receive help.

“We come in civilian clothes so we can show that we are not there to arrest them or hurt them or do anything. It relaxes them more,” Carman said. “We usually respond positively to ourselves. They are somehow relieved when they learn that we are not there to get them into trouble, but that we are there to help them. So when we show up on the second day, they are very grateful to us.”

In the last three years, DART has helped more than 300 victims, Anderson said.

Died about 20 times

A big DART fan is 36-year-old Ryno Foster, who died about 20 times from drug overdoses and was revived with Narcan by police officers, firefighters or other drug users.

Foster overdosed at his parents’ house, in cars, on the street and in “a number of other places.”

“I just had a general substance use disorder. I have consumed everything there is from opiates, powder cocaine, crack cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana, alcohol, everything,” Foster said. “I overdosed almost 20 different times, separate times, and then was revived with Narcan.”

Now in recovery for four years, Foster is a certified recovery peer specialist who works with the Volusia Recovery Alliance, helping overdose victims and those with substance use disorders.

By sharing his experiences, Foster said it shows how important the DART program is for people who tend to be looked down upon by society.

“They ((DART) are very knowledgeable. They are great and I love working with them,” Foster said. “Together we are targeting (zip code) 32114 (Daytona Beach), the highest overdose area in our county.” “

Give hope to the victims

After police officers and firefighter paramedics resuscitate victims at the scene of an overdose, they are taken to Halifax Health Medical Center, where they are cared for by nurses including April Harvey and Margie Calderon. And because Harvey and Calderon volunteer at DART, they also give victims hope by referring them for outpatient treatment.

DART then works with the Stewart Marchman organization, which provides counselors to visit the surviving patients and support their recovery.

However, not all overdose victims who come to the hospital recover from the effects of an overdose.

“What we typically see is that once someone comes to and needs the Narcan, they’re really remorseful and kind of in a mental crisis because they just died and were brought back,” Harvey said. “You are in a vulnerable state.”

Some arrive intubated and remain in the tube, sometimes for an entire day, and although they survive the initial overdose, complications arise in their bodies, Harvey said.

“Sometimes they don’t make it because there are complications with using the substances or health complications with drug use,” Harvey said.

But those who survive get a chance at continued treatment if nurses refer them to DART, Calderon said.

But overdose simply doesn’t happen in people who use drugs, but rather when a person stops treatment and relapses, Foster said.

“Obviously you’re not really aware of things when you start and go into an overdose,” Foster said. “I think it’s important for people to know that the majority of times I overdosed occurred after leaving a treatment center.

Sometimes nurses saw the same patient being brought back to the hospital up to three times in the same day.

But not everything is lost. Thanks to DART, there are success stories of recovery, the nurses said.

“We always have a few patients who come to our facility for different reasons and say thank you,” Calderon said. “They say that they have new jobs and new apartments and that they are doing better.”

“It warms my heart and my soul,” Harvey said of patients recovering and saying “thank you.”

Harvey attributes the success to DART meeting the needs of those who might otherwise think people don’t care about them, she said.

“It’s vital,” Harvey said of DART’s role in the community. “I mean, a lot of them have lost any form of support, whether it’s financial support, or they don’t have anyone, they don’t have anything, you know, that can give them hope.”

“We have DART. They go out there, they show compassion, empathy and show how much they care,” Harvey said. “And I think for a lot of people that didn’t exist and they wouldn’t get better because they don’t see any help, they don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel.”

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