Across the United States, fentanyl continues to destroy lives and families. The blistering pace of today’s news cycle makes it all too easy to forget how important it is to find ways to fight back.
But Dallas County’s Health and Human Services department recently launched a website providing lifesaving information about the dangers of the synthetic opioid that can also help keep the fentanyl crisis present in residents’ minds.
Regular readers will have seen our newspaper’s 30-day series titled Deadly Fake, in which our newsroom chronicled the stories of pain and loss that fentanyl leaves in its wake. But for those who haven’t benefited from that reporting, this initiative can make a difference. We encourage the county to make the most of this resource for residents.
The county is working on plans to conduct town hall events and partner with municipalities to spread awareness, according to Christian Grisales, a public information officer for Dallas County Health and Human Services. Those will probably begin around January, he said.
Efforts like those can help the website make a difference.
The new page has a “toolkit” that includes a series of informational flyers and posters that anyone can download and use. Getting the information in front of the people who need it can be as simple as a community member posting one of the flyers in social media.
The website details how dangerous it is to take any pill not dispensed by a pharmacy and offers a description of overdose symptoms. Information about lifesaving naloxone, commonly known by the brand name Narcan for the device that delivers it, is also available, alongside contact information for help with mental health and addiction recovery.
Everything on the website is available in both English and Spanish, which will help ensure this important information can reach the community effectively.
Our newsroom reported this month that 56.9% of people in Dallas County speak only English, compared with 78.3% nationally. Given how diverse Dallas County has become, it may be worth investing in making the information available in other languages as well.
Fighting the fentanyl crisis has to happen on many fronts. Earlier this year, Dallas County received funds from settlements and court decisions against pharmaceutical companies for their roles in the opioid epidemic. There are plans to use some of that money to expand drug testing services within the county to help identify struggling individuals.
Bolstering those efforts with a website is a great step, and getting the information to communities and residents who need it most is even better.
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