This comes after residents brought the issue up during public comment periods at multiple town council meetings.
The details
Flower Mound Fire Chief Paul Henley explained to the council at an Oct. 17 meeting what the fire department is doing to address opioid abuse. He said first responders with the fire department carry Narcan, a medication used to reverse opioid overdoses. When these first responders arrive at the scene, they look for signs of an overdose, such as labored breathing. When in doubt, they administer Narcan because it doesn’t have any adverse effects.
Since January 2020, first responders with the fire department have administered Narcan 169 times. Some 145 calls were designated as overdose calls and about 38 of those involved opioids. Seven of those incidents involved people younger than 18, with the youngest being 14.
Zooming in
At the Oct. 17 meeting, Flower Mound Police Chief David Coulon told Town Council what the local police department is doing to address the issue.
In the last year, there was one fatal fentanyl overdose in town. Officers with the department were able to track down the dealer who sold the drugs in Ellis County and charged him with murder, Coulon said.
He said the department has confiscated millions of illicit pills in its investigations, including 29 kilograms of fentanyl. Officers with the department go down to the border for its opioid investigations as well, and ask for extradition when indicting people in other countries.
Quote of note
“That’s how far away we will go to fight for these cases and find these people,” Coulon said.
Officers with the department have been using Narcan on people since 2012, he said. The medication has been used several times in the field to save lives, Coulon said. All beat officers carry two containers of Narcan on them at all times.
While town officials don’t supply Narcan to the public, Coulon said it is widely available at pharmacies in town for as little as $40 for two doses. There have been rumors that Narcan is hard to get or that pharmacies are running out, but this isn't something he's seeing locally, he said.
Drug overdose deaths are down nationally, but they still impact a lot of people. Synthetic opioid deaths across the country dropped from 76,226 in 2022 to 74,702 in 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“But that still leaves us 100,000 people who are going to die from it this year,” Coulon said.
What else?
Henley said educating parents is vital to addressing opioid abuse, especially among children. James Childers, Flower Mound town manager, said there are educational panel discussions about substance abuse taking place throughout local school districts and the broader community.
