Grundy County fights back against opioid crisis

GRUNDY COUNTY, Tenn. (WDEF)- Saturday was National Drug Takeback Day, as numerous organizations across the Tennessee Valley are looking to curb drug addiction.

However, the situation has become urgent in Grundy County.

Despite recent tragedies, that community says the only way to overcome a crisis is to come together.

Grundy County Constable Kyle Collins said, “Over the past 45 days, we have had a spike of opioid related overdoses across the county.”

Over the past four weeks, The Grundy County Sheriff’s Office has reported eight overdoses.

Four of them have been fatal.

In response, they have declared the situation an opioid crisis.

They say most drugs they have found are being laced with fentanyl.

With the extreme danger being presented to those abusing substances, county leaders say there has to be urgent action.

Collins said, “Had a meeting earlier this week to formulate a plan, to try resolve this issue the best that we can, to try to have a small impact on it at this time.”

As a response to the overdoses, free narcan boxes and basic training information were given out in Tracy City, Monteagle, Gruetli-Laager, Palmer, Beersheba, and Altamont.

Collins along with his family aimed to give away 96 boxes of Narcan in Tracy City, as 350 boxes were to be given out across the county.

Collins said he had already half of those boxes in the first 20 minutes.

He says it was a mixture of residents showing interest in the Narcan giveaway.

Collins said, “A lot of times it’s concerned family members. It’s those that struggle with addiction themselves. So we try to be compassionate and understanding and let them know that we are here for that. We talk about all the different resources that are in Grundy County as well as the state of Tennessee with addiction services and recovery.”

He gave a rundown on how you’re supposed to use Narcan in the case of an emergency.

Collins said, “It talks about checking the location, checking the airway. Administering the first dose to the nostril, it’s just like nasal spray, it’s the best way I can describe it. Call 911 after administration of the first dose if you have not called them at that time. Allow 2-3 minutes for a response. If there is no response, you can administer the second dose. There’s two 4 milligram doses in each box that you receive.”

He has this advice if you feel like your addiction is consuming you.

Collins said, “Reach out. Talk to someone. There’s no judgement on our end. Look at anyone who posted or commented on the Facebook group. Anyone is willing to talk to you or speak to you or give you a ride to the recovery location. We will get you a ride there, we will. We would rather take the time, ahead of time, to get you the help that you need versus us unfortunately placing you into a body bag and us having to take you outside of the county for that.”

Collins says some of those Grundy County addiction resources include RSM, Grace, the Tennessee Department Coalition, and the Highland Recovery program.