There were more than 3,800 fatal or nonfatal opioid overdoses in Dallas County in 2023. This is an increase of 58 percent compared to 2018.

Numbers like these contributed to the recent launch of the county’s opioid overdose prevention hotline: 214-590-4000

KERA’s Sam Baker, MD. He talks to Anelle Menendez. She is a Poison Control Specialist and Clinical Educator at the North Texas Poison Center who will oversee the hotline.

The people on the phone are doctors and nurses. If someone isn’t feeling well, they can help by having them call 911 if they need to.

However, the service itself will connect them to resources that will help them get into treatment, thus preventing a possible overdose in the future.

My understanding is that there were more than 3,800 fatal and non-fatal overdoses last year; An increase of 58% compared to 2018. What caused these numbers to rise?

There are many dirty and synthetic drugs on the market. People think they’re taking oxy or Xanax, but it’s really neither of those things. For example, fentanyl.

Well, are we talking about young people, of whom we hear a lot who mostly buy these pills?

I realized that there is no distinction here. There are adults in their 40s and 50s who experience this problem. And then there are middle school and high school aged kids who are just starting to try different drugs. And they think they got something from their friends and it’s something synthetic. We’re not seeing an increase anywhere specifically. It affects everyone.

You know, before we started hearing so much about fentanyl and the criminal activity surrounding it, conversations about opioids seemed to revolve around the use and abuse of prescription opioids.

That’s how it started, right? You get any type of surgery, you go through trauma or anything, and you end up on pain medication and that starts to create that addiction. The longer you use these pain medications, the higher your risk of becoming dependent on them. So it all started there. It became a lot of fake pills.

As you know, prescribers are starting to move away from Percocet, Vicodin, things that we normally see. Now we see a lot of people going out on the streets and getting dirty things.

From where? Is it difficult to get?

It’s gotten much harder now. Doctors have been tightened across the country. They are changing the way they prescribe.

What should people listening to this do or look for to recognize an opioid problem? So what should they do next?

Sometimes it’s obvious. Sometimes they take over their lives. We see very clearly that everything they do revolves around this addiction and the effort to access this drug.

But other times this could be someone who disappears for a while and has some time to themselves. And sometimes you talk to them and they’re a little slow, or sometimes you talk to them and they get very angry. Their personalities change depending on where they are with addiction that day. So it depends on the person and how they exhibit these behaviors.

Sometimes, there may only be symptoms such as sweating, restlessness, and yawning. Sometimes the symptoms we see with withdrawal will be very general and easy to miss.

The easiest to recognize will be changes in personality and how you interact with loved ones. And if you have any questions about whether what you’re noticing or seeing in that person is actually withdrawal or signs of abuse, you can always call this hotline; The person answering the phone call will assist you.

RESOURCES:

New Overdose Prevention Hotline Opens in Dallas County

DrugFacts

Opioid Crisis