Time is usually limited when Riverside Fire Authority Lt. Jason Shepherd arrives at an overdose.
With nearly two decades of experience, Shepherd, who coordinates Emergency Medical Services for 184 square miles in the greater Centralia area, said he “can’t even begin to count” the trauma he’s seen.
When first responders are called to an overdose, there are only two outcomes. As the lieutenant, Shepherd is tasked with telling a family when the life-saving efforts of first responders are unsuccessful.
“All the families that have experienced that loss, we see that trauma first hand. And that’s the worst day of their life,” Shepherd said. “For us, it’s a part of our job, but there’s a little piece of you that goes with that.”
While the job isn’t for the faint of heart, watching firsthand as people battle their addictions can take its toll.
“You can’t be a good first responder, you can’t go into somebody’s home at three in the morning and care for them, without having a lot of empathy,” Shepherd said. “And we’re not robots, and you can’t shut that off. That experience is hard on all of us.”
Shepherd’s first-hand account of responding to overdoses comes as survivors and families across the country gather to try and curb the rise of addiction. On Thursday, hundreds gathered in George Washington Park in Centralia to mark International Overdose Awareness Day, which is the world’s largest annual campaign to end overdoses and “remember those we have lost to an overdose.”
Sponsored by Gather Church, Community Integrated Health Services, Great Rivers BHASO and CHOICE Regional Health Network, the ceremony included testimonials from those who have struggled with addiction and family members who’ve lost loved ones to addiction.
The event also included a remembrance walk through the streets of Centralia to honor those who have lost their lives to drug usage.
Cole Meckle, pastor of Gather Church, said the event was about “bringing people together who are doing work in the community.”
“After a time of COVID and separation, I don’t feel like we’ve made as much headway being together and we need to have a really strong attitude of being together,” Meckle said. “We really need one another. People are diverse, organizations are diverse. And I think we can do better to work together.”
The goal, Meckle said, was to bring service providers together to work towards a common goal.
“We don’t have to agree on everything, but we all have the same heart to make a difference in people’s lives,” Meckle said.
The speakers, Meckle said, were also meant to destigmatize the discussion around overdose and addiction, as stigma can lead to fewer people seeking treatment for their substance abuse issues.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), 10.3% of the 20.4 million Americans diagnosed with substance use disorders in 2019 received treatment.
“It really is about a combination of encouraging people, helping them know that they can, folks who feel like they don’t have the ability to seek recovery,” Meckle said. “And then to share stories, it’s cathartic for the person sharing, it is for people who are working through grief.”
The testimonials, Meckle said, show people there is a path forward.
“Not with judgment or with punishment or anything else, but the challenge of like ‘hey it’s time, you can, and there are people here to help,’” Meckle said. “And so let’s do this together.”
