From May to August the population of Ocean County more than doubles to 1.3 million people as it welcomes an influx of visitors to the area. And like many other summer destinations, Ocean County has experienced significant loss with overdoses and the number of non-fatal and fatal overdoses increase during this time.
As a response, the Ocean County Health Department (OCHD) in collaboration with community partners introduced a resource guide that contains materials and resources that can help reduce opioid overdoses. It’s called the Ocean County Summer Overdose Spike Toolkit.
“Our data shows an increase in overdoses from May to August,” said Kimberly Reilly, Department of Substance Abuse, Addiction and Opioid Dependency. It was important for us to address this issue by putting together this toolkit for simple strategies Ocean County or any community that experiences increases of overdose in the summer to implement. Our hope is to continue to bring awareness to substance use disorder, overdose, reduce stigma and empower Ocean County to save lives.”
One important feature included in the Ocean County Summer Overdose Spike Toolkit is that it contains information on how to acquire Narcan. Narcan is the lifesaving nasal spray that can be administered on an individual who is overdosing. And while 90% of overdoses occur in the home a steady percentage take place in other places.
“The goal of the toolkit is to provide prevention education materials and life-saving resources -such as Narcan – in places such as bars, restaurants, hotels, rental properties, beaches and other summertime events,” added Gary Quinn, Ocean County Commissioner and Liaison to the Ocean County Board of Health. “The health department is committed to get Narcan out to the community and will provide free on-site Narcan training and kits for any of these locations and interested employees.”
The Ocean County Summer Overdose Spike Toolkit provides guidance and tips for a business or event site to implement such as checking bathrooms regularly in case somebody was using and overdosed. The toolkit recommends offering overdose response information in the bathrooms or advertising phone numbers such as the Never Use Alone number. Additionally, bartenders may want to keep substance use resources with them to hand out if somebody discloses an issue with substances.
Reilly continued, “It’s so important to bring awareness regarding addiction as Ocean County had a suspected 186 overdoses in 2022. We want everyone to enjoy their summer but we also want to provide the critical resources the toolkit offers because it just may save the life of someone struggling with addiction from overdose.”