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Faced with fentanyl-related deaths that doubled from April to May, Santa Clara County is offering training through workshops on how to recognize an opioid overdose and how to administer an over-the-counter medication to help prevent deaths.
The county’s Behavioral Health Services Department will provide the training, which is being hosted by the Santa Clara County Library District. The next workshop will take place at the Los Altos Library, 13 S. San Antonio Road, Los Altos, on Aug. 5 at 1:30 p.m.
Fentanyl is a highly potent narcotic used in hospitals for managing extreme pain, usually after surgeries, but the drug, which can be 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, has made its way onto the streets.
It is often combined with other drugs such as methamphetamine or is found in adulterated pills that people take for recreational drug use, such as fake Percocet. Just a few grains can cause a fatal overdose, according to the county behavioral health department.
“On a national level, and in California, much of the increase in opioid overdose deaths is due to the increased presence of fentanyl — particularly in drugs that are being purchased on the street or online — often without the individual’s knowledge,” said Erik Riera, deputy director, service delivery, County of Santa Clara behavioral health services department. “The end result is more overdoses, and more deaths.”
Overdoses are killing young people in higher proportions. Nationwide, fentanyl is involved in 4 out of 5 Gen Z drug deaths, the department said. Since 2020, the drug has killed 159 people under age 30 in Santa Clara County.
At the end of May, 41 people had died of fentanyl-related overdoses that month in Santa Clara County compared to 17 recorded deaths at the end of April 2023, the Santa Clara Medical Examiner-Coroner’s office said.
Drug deaths occur in all strata of society: Fentanyl and other opioid overdoses have killed highly educated, affluent residents. There have been accidental overdoses in Palo Alto and at Stanford University, according to coroner data.
“We are encouraging everyone, especially people under 30 years old, to learn more about fentanyl and its impacts,” Sherri Terao, behavioral health services director, said.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has issued a public health alert regarding the dangers of fentanyl-laced pills, finding that out of every 10 fake prescription pills analyzed in 2022, six out contained a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl, up from four out of 10 in 2021.
“Most fentanyl drug deaths in the county involve fentanyl combined with other drugs, including methamphetamine,” county Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner Dr. Michelle Jorden said.
The push to raise awareness
Due to the increase in the number of overdoses in Santa Clara County, the Behavioral Health Services Department, the Public Health Department, the Medical Examiner-Coroner and the , and District Attorney’s Office have formed a collaborative task force to strategize on the prevention of fentanyl overdose by launching a public campaign through social media.
They’ve partnered with schools, formed a group for parents who have lost a child due to overdose, expanded treatment, and activated a full investigation and monitoring of the sale of drugs through the district attorney’s Narcotics Unit.
The behavioral health department launched a new public awareness campaign in June, targeting people ages 14- to 29. The campaign seeks to increase awareness about what fentanyl is, its deadly impacts on the community, the risks of experimental drug use, and how to identify possible fake pills.
The “FentFacts: Anyone Can Die campaign,” FentFacts.org, offers potentially lifesaving information such as where one can find resources, support and free Narcan kits.
“If someone you know is struggling with addiction issues and needs help, please call us at 800-704-0900 and we will work to support you in getting the help you need,” Riera said.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian, who sits on the county’s Library District Board and chairs the Health and Hospital Committee, said that in other parts of the country the epidemic has been devastating. One Pennsylvania small town’s mayor told Simitian in 2017 that fentanyl overdoses were so frequent that health leaders were concerned they were going to run out of Narcan, the medication that prevents deaths. At the time, there were few cases in California.
“In 2015, the number of deaths in Santa Clara County were in the single digits. A half-dozen years later, there were 130-plus, so the growth has just been dramatic and extraordinary,” Simitian said.
“Because the fentanyl epidemic got to our part of the country a little bit later than other parts of the country, I think there’s been a certain amount of denial. Folks have been a little slow to understand the magnitude of the problem. … It’s here, and it’s deadly,” he said.
The fentanyl epidemic is not a “somewhere else” problem. It’s a “right here at home” problem, he said. Simitian has listened to parents from the communities he represents, in the north county and in the west valley, who spoke about losing the teenagers and young adults.
“And it just breaks your heart – just breaks your heart. So it’s avoidable, and under the right set of circumstances it can even be reversible. And that’s why folks are being encouraged to get the training and Narcan available,” he said.
The free opioid overdose prevention workshops will continue through Sept. 9. Simitian said he plans to attend the ones in his district in Los Altos and Saratoga.
Space is limited and registration is required. Participants who complete the training will be given a free Narcan kit while supplies last. Registration is at tinyurl.com/3bu6496v. Click on the individual library links to access each page.
The remaining workshops will be at:
• Los Altos Library: Saturday, Aug. 5 at 1:30 p.m.
• Morgan Hill Library: Tuesday, Aug. 8 at 6 p.m.
• Gilroy Library: Wednesday, Aug. 16 at 7 p.m.
• Campbell Express Library: Thursday, Aug. 17 at 7 p.m.
• Saratoga Library: Saturday, Sept. 9 at 1 p.m.
More information regarding fentanyl and other opioid overdose deaths in Santa Clara County are on the Medical Examiner-Coroner data dashboard at tinyurl.com/4enhpmss.
