The newest countywide heroin quick response team (QRT) is up and running. Team members made their first visits Tuesday using a donated Ford Explorer.
Hamilton County Commissioner Denise Driehaus says team members use a data system that highlights overdose hot spots on a map. "We needed a county-wide response that was more flexible and that could react to the bright spots that light up on that map," she says. "That's what this is about. It's a very smart, strategic, and impactful approach to what we know is happening in this community.
The team operates two days a week, Tuesdays out of Amberley Village and Fridays out of Delhi, meeting with addicts and trying to get them into treatment.
Teams also operate in Colerain Township, Norwood and Cincinnati.
Newtown Police Chief Tom Synan with the Heroin Coalition says work continues at the state level to change Ohio's civil commitment laws to encourage people to seek help. Talks on that are in the discussion stage, he says.
"The is a legitimate concern on capacity," he says. "It goes back to resources and funding, and that's why it's so important for the state and federal government to step up. We're doing a lot on the local level and the commissioners have put a lot of time and money into this, but to have the state and federal funding would allow us to be able to make sure that treatment is where it needs to be."
The county announced the latest QRT in the fall. It's partially funded by a $400,000 federal grant.
