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Santa Clara County launches new resources and website to prevent overdose deaths
To mark International Overdose Awareness Day, Santa Clara County announced new resources aimed at preventing overdose deaths. For the first time in a decade, the number of overdose deaths in the county dropped slightly last year. Officials are taking that as a good sign, but also a sign they should redouble their efforts.
SANTA CLARA COUNTY, Calif. - To mark International Overdose Awareness Day, Santa Clara County held a resource fair and launched a new website aimed at helping prevent overdose deaths.
In Santa Clara County, the number of overdose deaths dropped slightly last year. Officials are taking that as a good sign, but also a sign they should redouble their efforts.
Geralyn Vasquez hopes they will. Her son Jacob died after taking a single fentanyl-laced pill that he thought was Xanax.
"My son was under a yellow sheet in the entryway of our home. And we had no idea what happened," says Geralyn Vasquez.
The Vasquez's were not alone. They began to meet more and more families affected by fentanyl overdoses.
"We did not know. None of these parents knew. And we all found our children dead in their beds from something we had never heard of and did not know to warn them about," she says.
And so in Santa Clara County, they have been sounding the alarm about overdoses.
There have been resource fairs like one held today, outreach through schools, social media, and peer influencers. And the county has been offering fentanyl test strips, Narcan by mail, and even through vending machines in public places.
"The biggest challenge is how do we figure out which of these things are really going to move the needle," says Dr. Cheryl Ho, Santa Clara County's Behavioral Health Medical Director for substance abuse treatment services.
But some of it appears to be working. After a decade-long rise in overdose deaths, last year saw the first dip in numbers: from 353 deaths in 2022 to 317 in 2023.
A new Santa Clara County website is tracking the data and offering a hub for resources, particularly post-overdose support for survivors.
"That is a critical moment after someone has survived an overdose when we have an opportunity to find them, support them in this very hard moment, and make sure they get the resources they may be newly open to," says Dr. Sarah Rudman, Deputy Health Officer for Santa Clara County.
Geralyn Vasquez believes more needs to be done and sooner.
"The walks are great. The awareness campaigns are great. But it needs to be more serious than that," she says.
That's why she talks about Jacob even though it's hard. She hopes other families are listening.
"He didn't deserve to die this way. He had everything going for him. And if I can spare at least one family from going through what I have gone through today and everyday I will do it," she says.
County officials have also set a new goal for themselves. By 2030, they hope to double the number of people they reach for treatment.