Deaths from heroin overdoses have doubled in Fairfax County between 2013 and 2014 -- and the county is offering up resources to help the community deal with the increase.
Here's where to get help:
- If you know someone who needs help to overcome drug dependence, call Fairfax's Community Services Board at 703-383-8500. The staff can help find appropriate treatment and recovery resources. Remember, pregnant women and intravenous drug users get priority for any services.
- In an emergency, call the Fairfax Detoxification Center at 703-502-7000 or CSB Emergency Services at 703-573-5679. Both numbers are answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- If the emergency is life-threatening, call 911. Our Fire and Rescue personnel carry medication that can prevent deaths from opiate overdose.
- Check out this "Ask Fairfax" online discussion on the dangers of heroin. In it, CSB and Police answered questions from public about heroin/opiates in our community and where to find help.
- Listen to this "County Conversation" podcast with CSB's Peggy Cook on substance use issues and treatment.
- Read this report to the county's Board of Supervisors: "Prescription Drug and Heroin Abuse in Fairfax County: Recent Trends and Strategies for Prevention."
- Locate help with the Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator
- Watch "Inside Scoop Virginia – Is Heroin a Problem in Fairfax County?" This hour-long show, which aired on October 27, 2014, features representatives from the CSB, the Fairfax County Police Department, the Unified Prevention Coalition of Fairfax County, Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid and others.
- Get more general information -- including interviews with individuals in recovery, family members, prevention and treatment information and more -- from the official website of the State of New York.
- Read the World Health Organization's information sheet on opioid overdose.
- Watch "Heroin and Opiates - Confronting the Issue." This April 27, 2015 edition of "On the Beat," a Fairfax County Police Department public education program, features representatives from the CSB and the Police Department discussing current trends in heroin/opiate use and abuse within Fairfax County.
- Check out the web site for REVIVE!, a pilot program of the Commonwealth of Virginia that makes naloxone -- also known Narcan -- available to everyday people to reverse opioid overdoses.
