Alliance for Substance Abuse Progress staff saw a steady flow of people seeking services on Monday after the ASAP Hub reopened to walk-in clients for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak swept across the state.
Nine people visited the Hub, located in the Doug Otto Center at 1531 13th St., on Monday for services ranging from regularly scheduled check-ins to family members gathering information to help a loved one, ASAP Hub staff said.
ASAP Hub staff also assisted three people over the phone and distributed 24 boxes of naloxone, a medication designed to rapidly reverse an opioid overdose that is often sold under the brand name Narcan, to individuals and social service organizations, ASAP Hub staff said.
“We always had different influxes before the pandemic,” said Tara Todd, ASAP Hub health systems navigator. “Nine people for our first opening day to be just walking in is quite a number compared to this time in March before we closed.”
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The Hub has been closed to walk-in clients since Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb’s statewide stay-at-home order went into effect in March and staff have been preparing for a potential rush of people who may not have been able to seek help over the past several weeks, including those who don’t have access to a telephone or internet.
Though the ASAP Hub was closed to walk-in clients, ASAP continued to operate in a limited capacity during the stay-at-home order, with people seeking help for substance abuse disorder, as well as their families, asked to call ASAP or contact the organization through its website.
Safety measures
and challenges
ASAP has acquired personal protective equipment, including masks, sanitizer and a thermometer, to reduce the risk that staff and clients could become infected with the coronavirus.
In addition, ASAP staff will be limiting the number of clients who can be inside the facility at one time and are keeping the door locked. A door bell has been installed and people can wait outside the Hub until it is their turn to enter, but there were no lines on Monday, Todd said.
Signs have been taped to the floor to encourage people to remain 6 feet apart.
ASAP staff will sanitize the Hub after meeting with clients and do a deeper clean of the office after closing at 4 p.m. each day.
Despite the measures, the Hub will likely face some challenges with operating during the pandemic, ASAP officials said.
The social distancing measures are limiting the Hub’s transportation services, with ASAP hoping to reduce the risk of volunteer drivers getting infected with the virus.
In addition, helping clients find employment has been challenging given the impact that the pandemic has had on the local economy with layoffs, business shutdowns and other work-related restrictions.
One of the biggest challenges, however, may be people being nervous to seek help out of fear of being exposed to the coronavirus, said ASAP Hub Director Nathan Walsh.
“They’re scared to go into places. They’re scared to come into an office environment with closed doors,” Walsh said. “I think there is just a lot of fear out there.”
“Just because COVID happened, doesn’t mean people aren’t struggling,” Walsh added. “People are really, really struggling, and substance use disorder is taking lives as well.”
Fatal overdose cases increase
So far this year, Bartholomew County has seen an alarming increase in drug overdose deaths, with the county currently on track for the most deaths since at least 2017, when there were 30 deaths, according to the Bartholomew County Coroner’s Office.
As of Monday, there had been 19 fatal drug overdoses in the county, which puts the county roughly on pace for 41 drug overdose deaths this year.
By comparison, there were 24 fatal drug overdoses during all of 2019.
Columbus police were dispatched to 47 suspected overdoses from Jan. 1 to May 25, compared to 25 during the same period last year, the Columbus Police Department said.
A similar increase was also seen in the county, with the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department responding to 12 suspected overdoses during roughly the first half of this year, compared to five during the same stretch last year.
The increase in fatal drug overdoses could lead to a surge of need for substance use disorder treatment and other services in the community, said Matthew Neville, operations and communications manager at ASAP.
“With the influx of overdoses that have been occurring, I think there is going to be a groundswell of need of the Hub’s services coming up,” Neville said.
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Visit www.asapbc.org or call 812-418-8705 for more information about ASAP.
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