Durham, NC - The Durham County Department of Public Health (DCoDPH) has unveiled a new website hub for opioid, substance use, and addiction services. The new hub, located within the Health Education section of the DCoDPH website, is designed to help Durham residents who are struggling with substance use find the help and services they need, including treatment, harm reduction, and housing.

The launch of the new website section is timely. Opioid overdose numbers spiked in 2020, likely due in part to the added stress and isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Opioid misuse is devastating families and communities all over the country, and it began long before the current COVID-19 crisis. In North Carolina, opioid overdose deaths have doubled in the past ten years. In 2019, the Durham Emergency Medical Services (EMS) responded to over 300 opioid overdoses in Durham County, and 45 people died.

“One thing we see as we work with people who have overdosed is they are looking for help with their addiction. They either do not know where to find it or do not believe they can break the cycle they are in,” said Capt. Helen Tripp, Community Paramedics Program Manager for Durham EMS. “Having accurate and relevant information is a very important part of getting this help where it is needed.”

Capt. Tripp leads a team of community paramedics who partner with peer support specialists to form the Durham Post-Overdose Response Team (PORT). Peer support specialists are state-certified individuals living in recovery with mental illness and/or substance use disorder. They are trained to provide support to post-overdose patients and others who may benefit from their lived experiences.

The PORT aims to visit each person who overdoses in Durham within 72 hours after the overdose. “We provide harm reduction in the form of naloxone kits for reversing overdoses and information about addiction and recovery,” Capt. Tripp explains. “We make sure they understand medication assisted treatment (MAT) is available to them either through local crisis centers such as Durham Recovery Response Center or the Duke Hospital Emergency Departments. All of this together helps to break the cycle of addiction and gets people what they need to begin recovery.”

Peer support specialists are supported by DCoDPH with a grant from the NC Department of Health and Human Services. In addition to serving post-overdose patients, the peer support specialists are available to assist any Durham resident struggling with substance use, free of charge. They build ongoing relationships with individuals, providing links to treatment, housing, employment, and other community support resources as well as hope, reassurance and advocacy.

The PORT and the peer support program are two of the services highlighted on the new DCoDPH website hub. Two other important highlighted services include the Durham Safe Syringe Program and the Community Testing Program. Through these programs, Durham residents can receive clean syringes, take-home naloxone kits, and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV and Hepatitis C. All services are delivered confidentially and free of charge.

“DCoDPH recognizes the urgent need to respond to the dual crises of both the COVID-19 pandemic and the opioid epidemic,” said Lindsey Bickers Bock, Director of Health Education and Community Transformation for DCoDPH. “The launch of the new website hub will help people struggling with substance use to connect with recovery support, harm reduction resources, and evidence-based care. The goal is to reduce overdose deaths and other harms associated with substance use while acknowledging the social determinants of health.”

The new website hub can be found at dcopublichealth.org/substanceuse.

For additional information about the Durham PORT and the Peer Support Program, contact Lindsey Bickers-Bock at lbickersbock@dconc.gov.

For additional information about the Durham Safe Syringe Program, contact the DCoDPH Pharmacy at (919) 560-7632.