In February 2017 the Sebastian River Chamber of Commerce put together a committee of business leaders in our community with a mission statement to “inform, educate and promote health care issues among Chamber members”. A further goal was to “develop community awareness of important health-related issues”. As we narrowed the tasks that we hoped to accomplish, it became very clear from input from our committee that one of the first areas we should tackle was what our Governor labeled in 2017 as a public health emergency – Florida’s opioid crisis. Specifically, we wanted to put the spotlight on the problem in our own backyard and also the solutions available in Indian River County and the greater Central Florida area.
In 2016, there were 2,798 opioid-related overdose deaths in Florida— a rate of 14.4 deaths per 100,000 persons—compared to the national rate of 13.3 deaths per 100,000 persons. In an August 2017 article in TCPalm, Indian River County Sheriff Deryl Loar said: “the county is in an opioid epidemic”. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) states that prescription opioids are medications used to treat moderate-to-severe pain and often prescribed following surgery or injury, or for health conditions such as cancer. However, in recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the acceptance and use of prescription opioids for the treatment of chronic, non-cancer pain, such as back pain or osteoarthritis, despite serious risks and the lack of evidence about their long-term effectiveness. Medications that fall into this class include Hydrocodone, Oxycodone, Morphine, Hydromorphone, Fentanyl, Methadone and others. Some of the risks include physical dependence, drowsiness, dizziness, drug interactions with other medications, confusion, depression and many others. And, of course, addiction and even overdose as stated above.
Fast forward to today. Our committee has been working very diligently to build “Opioid Crisis: An Equal Opportunity Destroyer Summit”. We have assembled experts who are local physicians, law enforcement, attorneys, mental health counselors, treatment specialists, legislators, family members and those in recovery to tell their personal stories. The mission statement for this event is to “increase the general public’s knowledge of opioid and prescription drug abuse and to connect the public with resources to aid in the prevention and treatment of opioid/prescription drug addiction and abuse”. Our goal is to tell the story of addiction, but also provide the hope of recovery and resources for those who have been touched by this disease. Additionally, we want attendees to leave with information to become plugged in with area organizations where they can volunteer to help fight this crisis.
Special thanks to Beth Mitchell, President of the Sebastian Chamber of Commerce, for the idea of forming a health care committee and all of the support to bring this fruition. Additionally, we would like to thank our committee members for their hard work over the past 18 months. Finally, we are grateful to our sponsors SAFIR (Substance Abuse Free Indian River), the Indian River County Medical Society and the City of Sebastian for allowing us to use their council chambers.
For more information please visit the www.sebastianchamber.com and click on the Opioid Summit link. Additionally, we welcome members of our Chamber business community to volunteer to join our Health Care Committee for future projects. Please contact the chamber for more information.