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Snohomish County is now wrestling with the fourth wave of the drug crisis.
The opioid crisis has spanned decades in the U.S. and has shown distinct waves influenced by different types of opioids. The most recent data brief from the Snohomish County MAC Group details how the challenge has unfolded.
The prescription opioid wave dates to the 1990s and was driven by undertreatment of pain and misunderstanding around addictive properties. The switch to heroin, the second wave, may have been due to decreased price and increased availability. In the third wave, synthetic opioids (including fentanyl) then saturated the drug supply due to low production costs and increased potency over heroin.
Opioids remain the primary drug of use, but now are often used alongside stimulants such as methamphetamine. Widespread polysubstance use is considered the fourth wave of the drug crisis.
Data from Washington State death certificates highlights the change in death rates due to the different drug categories highlighted in each of the waves above. The age-adjusted rate of overdose deaths is highest in the polysubstance use drug category, followed by synthetic opioids in Snohomish County and Washington state. Increasing local drug surveillance and rapid data sharing could enhance understanding of the current drug supply, influence harm reduction techniques, and prevent overdoses and deaths.
See the Snohomish County Opioid Overdose and Prevention Data Dashboard for growing library of data briefs about the drug crisis.
 Click image above to access data brief.
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The Snohomish County Health Department last fall launched "Small Steps," an outreach campaign that aims to decrease stigma around substance use disorder and to support residents in taking the next step toward recovery.
The campaign was developed based on engagement with partners from several local organizations. Through the co-development of this campaign, the department was able to launch a successful campaign in English and Spanish. So far, it has generated almost 6 million impressions across Meta and online digital programmatic ad placements in 60 days. That was more than triple the the impressions predicted. The campaign also drove 19,496 people to visit the Snohomish Overdose Prevention landing page to learn more and discover nearby resources.
Building off the momentum of this initial iteration of the “Small Steps Snohomish” campaign, the Health Department has secured funding to continue the work through 2025. In this next iteration, the campaign will refresh the five top- performing campaign ads, translate up to five ads into Vietnamese, and produce two short videos featuring local advocates.
To learn more about the campaign and see all of the ads that were developed, visit our campaign’s webpage at "Small Steps" Campaign - Snohomish Overdose Prevention. For those interested in participating in the next iteration of this campaign, please contact us at shd-opioids@snoco.org.
 Click on the image above to see all 'Small Steps' campaign materials.
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Lack of transportation can be a significant barrier for treatment and recovery. There are local options available to get people to appointments, services, supports, and other essential destinations, including no-cost resources for those who otherwise would not be able to get around.
A new webpage and PDF document on the Snohomish Overdose Prevention website provides an overview of no-cost transportation options serving Snohomish County residents as well as information on accessing door-to-door transportation and ORCA cards. We hope this resource will be a helpful starting point to connect people to a transportation option that meets their needs.
While this document is set to be reviewed and updated periodically, if you have a time-sensitive update to share regarding a transportation resource, please contact MAC@snoco.org. Information may become outdated between updates, so please confirm details with the transportation service provider if you’re not certain.
 Click image above to visit page.
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About 50 firefighters from nine agencies across Washington on Jan. 17 converged on South County Fire headquarters for a first-ever basic behavioral health training designed to help fire/EMS personnel better serve people in crisis.
“The goal of the training is to enhance skills required in crisis response, improve understanding of behavioral health signs and symptoms, and map out call responses to opioid overdoses and suicide,” South County Fire said in a Jan. 20 Facebook post.
The training, titled COAST: A Roadmap for Fire/EMS, was co-hosted by South County Fire and the University of Washington’s Behavioral Health Crisis Outreach Response and Education (BHCORE) program. This training initiative comes as Washington’s fire departments take proactive steps to address critical gaps in behavioral health care in the community.
Learn more in the South County Fire press release.
Media coverage: Firefighters attend state’s first behavioral health training
 Click image to access social media post.
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Members of the Snohomish County Public Information Officer Network gathered in Everett Jan. 17 to learn more about the community’s ongoing drug crisis, and to receive training on how to use Narcan to reverse an opioid overdose. Roughly 40 communicators from more than two dozen local agencies were in attendance.
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Amy Wheat, Opioid Outreach Specialist in the Behavioral Health Division of the Snohomish County Human Services Department, shared information about the drug crisis and the life-saving role that can be played by people trained to deliver Narcan when they encounter someone experiencing an overdose.
All participants received a Narcan kit to carry at the ready, plus the invitation to schedule similar trainings for colleagues.
Narcan trainings are offered by request in the community, and you can keep up with the latest trainings on Snohomish Overdose Prevention social media. The next public Narcan training is scheduled for 10 a.m. Feb. 3 in Everett, at 3021 Rucker Ave.
 Amy Wheat, Opioid Outreach Specialist from the Snohomish County's Human Services Department, teaches local public informaiton officers (above) about Narcan Jan. 17.
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