NORTHAMPTON — Northampton Police saw a decrease in the number of overdose deaths and emergency calls about drug overdoses in the city last year over the previous year.
But the numbers provide only a snapshot of the opioid crisis in Northampton and still represent a substantial increase from 2015, according to new data released by the department.
Police, however, are expressing caution about the figures.
“We’re certainly hopeful that it continues,” Police Chief Jody Kasper said of the year-over-year decrease in overdose calls and deaths. “If we are seeing more overdoses that aren’t being reported to police and handled privately, that is concerning as well.”
Northampton Police responded to 36 overdose calls in 2017 during which 43 doses of Narcan were given. The overdose-reversal drug was given mostly by police in those cases but also by firefighters or bystanders. Of the 36 overdoses, 31 involved heroin and one involved fentanyl. Four people died from overdoses, three of which involved heroin.
In 2016, police responded to 47 overdose calls and recorded use of 69 doses of Narcan. The department recorded six overdose deaths, all of them heroin-related.
In 2015, police recorded 20 overdose calls. Narcan was administered in half of those cases. Police recorded one overdose death, which was medication-related.
The data collected by the department reflect only overdoses in which the police are called to respond. Northampton officers began carrying and using Narcan in October 2014.
In cases when Narcan was used in Northampton in 2017, police administered the majority of doses, aside from five instances when bystanders gave the livesaving drug, according to the data. In two cases, first responders with the Northampton Fire Department administered Narcan. Northampton Deputy Fire Chief John Garriepy said in 2017, the Fire Department used Narcan on 28 calls. Some of those numbers may overlap with police data, he said.
“Getting Narcan into the hands of police departments and the general public made a huge difference,” Garriepy said.
The data do not include intentional overdoses, suicides or suicide attempts. Kasper said the decision was made to not include that information because it was not what the department was trying to capture with the data.
Since 2012, 29 Northampton residents have died from confirmed opioid-related overdoses, according to information from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health published in November 2017. The most deaths occurred in 2014, when 11 were reported.
In 2016, 2,094 people died from confirmed cases of opioid-related overdoses statewide. That number was a 24 percent increase over confirmed cases in 2015, in which 1,687 died, according to the DPH. Opioid overdose death totals are expected to increase for those years because not all cases have been finalized.
Using numbers from the Massachusetts State Police, the Northwestern district attorney’s office said there were 20 suspected unintentional opioid overdose deaths in 2017 in Hampshire County, compared to 36 in 2016. The district attorney’s office uses the data to determine where there may be “hot spots” that indicate a town may need more services like Narcan training, according to Lynn Ferro, director for opioid research and recovery support services for the office.
Also important to note is a change in the law in August 2016. Prior to that date, people who overdosed and were in danger of serious bodily injury or death due to their continued use of the drugs could refuse medical treatment. People are no longer permitted to refuse treatment if first responders are called and officers can place them into protective custody to get the person medical services, according to a new law signed by Gov. Charlie Baker.
Opioid awareness campaigns continue throughout the region, and Kasper noted that the city has been doing a lot of work in the area of overdose prevention and treatment, as well as getting Narcan into the hands of friends and families of drug users.
One of those efforts includes the creation of DART (Drug Addiction Response Team) officers. The department has three and they are trained to reach out to people following an overdose and help connect them with local addiction resources.
DART officers responded to more than 61 percent, or 22, overdose calls in 2017, compared to 34 percent, or 16, in 2016, according to police data. Of the remaining 14 overdose calls in 2017 that did not have DART responses, four were fatal overdoses, one was a marijuana overdose, and two involved residents from other communities.
Hampshire HOPE, a regional opioid prevention coalition, already helps to provide training for DART officers in Northampton. Cherry Sullivan, coordinator of Hampshire HOPE, said the data from Northampton show “the program is running more smoothly, efficiently and people are utilizing the program.”
Kasper said she hopes the Police Department is able to enhance its response network into other communities. One way the department may be able to do that is through a four-year, $1.7 million federal grant awarded to Hampshire HOPE last fall. That grant is being used establish specialized overdose response teams like the one in Northampton across Hampshire County.
Once that happens, officers in Northampton will have more of an ability to reach out to surrounding agencies when an out-of-town resident overdoses in the city.
Currently, Hampshire HOPE uses the Police Department’s data as well as data from Massachusetts Ambulance Trip Record Information System. Sullivan said in an email that Hampshire HOPE is in the process of building a database that will pull data from police, fire, EMS and hospitals.
“By building this database, we will get a clearer picture of nonfatal overdoses in the area,” Sullivan said. “This database will also allow us to communicate between jurisdictions for our post-overdose response teams.
“For example, if an Amherst resident overdoses in Northampton — our goal is to create a system where a push notification will be sent to the Amherst post-overdose response team to inform them that there is a resident who could be contacted to get extra support.”
Those interested in looking at the available data can find the information at www.northamptonpd.com/npd-open-data-portal.
Emily Cutts can be reached at ecutts@gazettenet.com
Editor’s Note: This story was changed on Jan. 30, 2018, to correct the percentage of overdose calls that DART officers responded to in 2016 to 34 percent.