FAYETTEVILLE, WV (WOAY) – It has devastated families across the Mountain State.
On this National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day, the Fayette County Health Department is doing all it can to change that.
Just two milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal. It is the culprit in 76% of West Virginia’s overdose deaths. Using a test strip might help. And the DEA says it remains the deadliest drug threat the United States has ever faced.
Peer recovery support specialist Paula McCutcheon says Fayette County does a good job of educating the public, from their harm reduction and quick response teams to getting naloxone into the community because everybody should carry it. But she says as long as there’s demand there’s going to be supply.
“And we’re gonna be facing other things like xylazine, (‘trank’) — I see it in our community,” McCutcheon said. “So (it’s important) for us to prepare, raise awareness and educate people, and also remember those that we’ve lost.”
The fentanyl crisis crippling West Virginia can also be attributed to the unprecedented smuggling of the drug. McCutcheon says it’s another reason why she does what she does.
“It could have been me, and it can’t just be one organization combating this,” said the peer recovery coach. “It takes all of us working together doing outreach, having programs, having the right help to connect people to and make getting help easy, removing all the barriers, giving fentanyl test strips, giving Narcan.”
Behind the staggering statistics are people — someone’s child, mother, father — and they are loved.
“We’re human beings first before we’re our disease and everybody deserves that second chance,” McCutcheon said. “One is too many to die and the fact that we have lost so many should really raise concern ’cause it’s our community, and these are our people.”
This should matter to all of us.
“Meeting people where they’re at and loving them where they’re at,” said the peer recovery coach. “Keeping them safe and alive is just a little small part of what we can do to help.”
