Latest news with #Emily'sHope
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Overdose deaths prompt response from Police Chief
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Sioux Falls Police Chief Jon Thum wants people to remain vigilant when it comes to drug overdoses. The chief spoke with reporters today following three deaths in the past few weeks believed to be related to overdoses. So far in 2025, drug overdoses have killed seven people in Sioux Falls, with an 8th suspected case awaiting toxicology tests. SFPD: 7 confirmed overdose deaths so far in 2025 'When we look at these drug cases, I think sometimes we hear terminology, like hey it's a bad batch, or its a hot batch, the reality is with the drugs we are dealing with in this day and age, there is no such thing, they are all bad batches, said Thum. At this time last year the city had ten deaths linked to drug overdoses. Emily's Hope founder Angela Kennecke looks at the drop in deaths so far, as a small victory. 'Overdose deaths actually decreased by 20 percent. I think that is a good thing. However, of course, the eight tragic deaths and how those have impacted families and friends, that's awful. And I want to see no deaths at all, but to have the numbers going down, I think that's fantastic,' said Kennecke. Kennecke's nonprofit, Emily's Hope, has distributed more than a thousand doses of Naloxone, also called Narcan, statewide in the past year. Kennecke says people are relaying information to her that they have already prevented several overdoses. 'So I have had separate people approach me, at different times to tell me that Naloxone has saved someone's life. The Naloxone they got from an Emily's Hope distribution box,' said Kennecke. Those public Naloxone distribution boxes are placed in strategic locations throughout South Dakota. Kennecke says Naloxone is a tool, not a cure. 'So we also offer a post-overdose response team for people who have survived an overdose to connect them with the resources that they need. It has to be followed up with the right kind of care to treat substance abuse disorder,' said Kennecke. Chief Thum agrees, it's what happens after an overdose that can lead to change. 'If you are not dealing with the root cause, if you are not dealing with people who have that demand for that narcotic and some of those issues that are there, it's a multi-faceted approach that has to be taken,' said Thum. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Emily's Hope, EMT react to proposed naloxone cuts
TEA, S.D. (KELO) — The Trump administration has reportedly proposed a $56 million cut to grant funding for naloxone, which is also known by the brand name Narcan. It's a medication that reverses the effects of an overdose. Emily's Hope recently announced plans to distribute 20,000 naloxone kits across South Dakota. While the non-profit's founder Angela Kennecke says Trump's proposed cuts won't impact that program, she worries the progress that has been made on stopping the opioid crisis could slow down. 'It's a good thing that the Trump administration renewed the opioid crisis as a public health emergency because it is, and it continues to be, but one of the reasons that we saw overdose deaths go down by about 25% nationwide is because of the mass distribution of naloxone and because every first responder has it. We don't want to go backwards on that. We just want to move forward, and we want to make naloxone widely available,' Kennecke said. Jaime Bartell, EMS Lieutenant for Tea, says the possible cuts would directly affect the department. 'We use Narcan multiple times a year to help save lives in the community,' Bartell said. And both Bartell and Kennecke say it's crucial for naloxone to be widely distributed. 'Narcan is one of those drugs that are able to be utilized in a dire situation. If we didn't have access to it, like when we didn't have access to epi (epinephrine), it's a very big scary thing for the community,' Bartell said. 'Let's make naloxone as available as possible,' Kennecke said. 'It's a simple life saving tool.' Emily's Hope currently has 10 naloxone dispensers placed throughout South Dakota, including two at Sanford Health in Sioux Falls. For a full list on where you can find naloxone kits, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Speaking the same language: Opioid programs connect overdose victims with recovered mentors
Cameron Nielson is a 27-year-old Sioux Falls resident in recovery from opioid use disorder. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight) Shame consumed Cameron Nielson as he lay curled and shaking on an emergency room bed. Nurses shouldn't have to rush to care for him, he thought. Other patients deserved attention more than him. This was his seventh relapse. His mother drove him to the emergency room with severe withdrawal symptoms from opioids and Xanax last summer after his drugs were stolen from his safe, he said. Medicine for opioid use saves lives. But SD doctors hesitate to prescribe it, advocates say. SD uses portion of opioid settlement funds to distribute overdose prevention kits 'I hated myself,' the 27-year-old Sioux Falls resident remembered. He accepted medication from one of the nurses to stop the withdrawal symptoms. His head was clearer and he could fall asleep, but the shame remained. Vanessa Needles entered the room after he woke up. She wasn't a nurse, but a peer support specialist meant to connect Nielson to resources. His shame turned to embarrassment, but it soon became gratitude for the medical staff and Needles. Needles spoke his language in a way the nurses and doctors surrounding him couldn't. She overdosed once herself and struggled with alcohol use, eventually leading to a car crash that killed her coworker in 2017. Needles and Nielson started experimenting with drugs and alcohol around 14 years old. They'd both done things and treated their loved ones in ways they regret. He wasn't alone. Needles, who is seven years sober, offered Nielson grace. 'When you're trying to get off of it, the littlest thing makes the biggest difference,' Nielson told South Dakota Searchlight. 'The most valuable thing is having someone understand what you're going through.' Needles is one of nine peer support specialists in eastern South Dakota with Sioux Falls-based nonprofit Emily's Hope. Their work is part of a pilot program overseen by the state Department of Social Services and launched in January 2024 to reduce overdoses by providing 'essential supports and strengthening connections' to local resources, according to a statement from the department. Rapid City-based Project Recovery piloted the program in western South Dakota. The pilots are funded by national opioid settlement dollars, costing $346,445. The national opioid settlement was reached in 2021 to resolve opioid litigation against the country's three largest pharmaceutical distributors and one manufacturer. More than $50 billion in settlement funds are being delivered to state and local governments from the companies accused of flooding communities with opioid painkillers even though they allegedly knew how addictive and deadly the drugs were. South Dakota is set to receive $54 million of settlement funding within the next two decades. The department plans to continue funding the program with settlement dollars through 2029, based on a plan presented to the opioid advisory council in April. The two organizations received a combined 34 referrals since the program's launch and connected with 26 people to provide resources. Between 2016 and 2020, there were more than 2,400 drug-related hospitalizations and 684 drug-related deaths in South Dakota. Angela Kennecke, founder and CEO of Emily's Hope, said the organization works closely with emergency room departments for referrals. Sometimes the initial contact yields later results. One woman who ended communication with a peer support specialist last year picked communication back up this year to seek help. 'I always say a seed is planted,' Kennecke said. 'Even if they don't go into treatment immediately or they don't go on medication and get the help they need, a seed has been planted that there is someone there to help them when they're ready.' Kennecke's daughter, Emily, died of a fentanyl overdose, laced in heroin she injected. Her family was planning to enroll her into a treatment program when she died in May 2018. Project Recovery has found most of its success working with Rapid City's Fusion Center, which is a law enforcement task force. The clinic receives referrals based on overdose data collected by law enforcement. Kendra Joswiak, clinical practice director at Project Recovery, said her response team connected with 82% of activations, 56% of which continue to be engaged in addiction service treatments. Needles, a 30-year-old mother of two — soon to be three — served as a peer support specialist for years in other capacities before working with Emily's Hope to meet with overdose victims in the emergency room. She's previously talked with people struggling with substance use on the street, and she's shared her story with jail inmates. The program bridges gaps in South Dakota's behavioral health infrastructure, she said. It also destigmatizes substance use within the medical profession and in the community, and gives a sense of purpose to those in recovery. 'By helping someone stay sober, I stay sober another day,' Needles said. 'I can stand in front of them and tell them that this is scary and sh—y, but that it's going to get better.' Peer support specialists with Emily's Hope receive a group text when an overdose victim arrives at a Sioux Falls-area hospital. Whoever is available goes, Needles said. Most of the time, people have already checked out of the hospital before a specialist arrives. She remembers when she overdosed a decade ago, and she left the hospital as soon as she could because she was scared. She needed to cope with her emotions, and the only way she knew how was to use again. She and other peer support specialists will follow up with patients after they leave the hospital, dropping off bags of fentanyl test strips or medication to prevent overdose. She'll hand them to the patient, parents or spouses — whoever she can find. After Nielson was admitted to the hospital and into a treatment program through Avera Health, Needles joined him each Friday. She checks in on him to see how he's feeling and has taken him to support meetings since he completed treatment. She sent him a coin and card when he reached three months of sobriety late last year. CONTACT US Nielson is eight months sober. He's taking a Suboxone prescription to eliminate cravings, and he feels more like himself, he said. He started reading again, hasn't missed a day of work and spends time with his 3-year-old son each week. It's something he couldn't have dreamed of a decade ago. Needles' guidance and support reminds Nielson he's not alone and what he's capable of achieving. 'Besides Vanessa, I don't have another person to talk to regularly who knows what I'm going through or is sober,' Nielson said. 'It can kind of get lonely after you cut off every friend you had, since they were all part of my addiction.' One relationship isn't a lot, but it's a start, Needles said. She hopes as others learn about medications for opioid use disorder and about efforts to curb overdose deaths in the state, overdose response teams will be able to reach more people. 'Everybody deserves a little bit of grace,' Needles said. 'We're all struggling one way or another.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Life saving drug to be made more available in South Dakota
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The state of South Dakota is partnering with Emily's Hope to provide life-saving medication kits to reverse opioid overdoses. Under this new program, people can get Naloxone kits anonymously at distribution boxes set up in high-traffic areas around the state. The Department of Health, Social Services and the Attorney General's office are working together in hopes of saving lives. Influenza, Whooping Cough seeing decline in SD Boxes like this will be placed at various locations around South Dakota. People can simply open a box and grab a Naloxone kit free of charge, no questions asked. The nasal spray rapidly reverses an overdose and is proven to save lives. Secretary of Social Services, Matt Althoff, says the goal is to get the life-saving drug into the hands of people who are most likely to need it. 'The anonymous distribution is a critical component that we realize, our goal, of course, is to create that safety net, always strengthening it, always making sure it's even broader,' said Althoff. The program is using funds from a settlement with opioid companies. Attorney General Marty Jackley secured $78.6 million as South Dakota's share. 'I'm a strong voice that those dollars need to not sit in trust funds for state government, they need to be put to use. And putting to use is why we are here today,' said Jackley. South Dakota Secretary of Health, Melissa Magstadt, has put it to use herself. She's very familiar with the impact Naloxone can have in the right hands. 'I have administered Naloxone myself, and actually seen patients wake up and come back after an overdose of opioids, its a very powerful medicine to save lives,' said Magstadt. Magstadt says Naloxone has already saved countless lives in South Dakota Emily's Hope founder, Angela Kennecke, likens naloxone to other life-saving tools like defibrillators and EpiPens. 'We will have the boxes in as many places as possible, I would like to see them by every defibrillator, everybody who has a defibrillator and if people want it in their homes, we will give it to them as well,' said Kennecke. This new initiative aims to distribute 20 thousand kits statewide. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
SD uses portion of opioid settlement funds to distribute overdose prevention kits
Naloxone harm reduction kits will be available in some public spaces across South Dakota due to a partnership between the state and Emily's Hope, officials announced on April 25, 2025. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight) About 20,000 opioid overdose prevention kits will be distributed across South Dakota thanks to a partnership between the state and Sioux Falls-based nonprofit Emily's Hope. The kits are filled with naloxone, an antidote for opioid overdoses, along with other resources and information. Emily's Hope founder and CEO Angela Kennecke, whose daughter died from a fentanyl overdose in 2018, announced the partnership in Sioux Falls on Friday alongside South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley, state Health Department Secretary Melissa Magstadt and state Social Services Department Secretary Matt Althoff. The distribution is funded with $350,000 of South Dakota's $78.6 million 'and counting' in national opioid settlement funds, Jackley said. The national opioid settlements were reached to resolve opioid litigation against pharmaceutical distributors and manufacturers accused of flooding communities with opioid painkillers even though they allegedly knew how addictive and deadly the drugs were. South Dakota will receive about $50 million over the next 15 years from the first settlement and will receive another $28.6 million over the next 17 years from a settlement with Walgreens, CVS, Walmart, Teva and Allergan. 'That's what is so important about this partnership is it's putting those dollars back to work to save and protect people,' Jackley said. Teva pharmaceuticals donated 2,313 kits for the effort and sold the other kits at a discounted rate to the state. Ninety-five South Dakotans died from overdoses in 2023, according to the state Department of Health. Forty-seven of the deaths were opioid-related, and 39 of those were fentanyl-related, Magstadt said. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid. 'Since 2019, we've had a 70% increase in the amount of fentanyl deaths in South Dakota,' Magstadt said. 'It's hitting home.' The program will target areas of the state impacted the most by opioid use, overdoses and death, officials said. The top 10 counties impacted, according to Emily's Hope, are Minnehaha, Lincoln, Pennington, Corson, Roberts, Turner, Todd, Oglala Lakota, Beadle and Meade. Although most overdose deaths are among white residents, Native Americans are disproportionately affected. Native Americans die from overdoses at a rate of 26.6 per 100,000 — more than four times the rate among white South Dakotans, according to the State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System. The kits will be placed in publicly accessible areas, Kennecke said. Emily's Hope has been distributing naloxone kits, primarily in the Sioux Falls area, for nearly a year. The organization has distributed about 6,000 kits in that time. Although most overdoses occur in private residences, they also happen in public restrooms, in traffic or on the street, Kennecke said. Offering them in public allows more bystanders to access the drug and intervene. 'Our goal is to have one of these kits in every house, in every business, by every AED possible,' Kennecke said. AEDs are automated external defibrillators that help people in cardiac arrest, many of which are stationed in public areas and offices throughout the state. Magstadt called naloxone a 'one more chance' medicine, since it halts overdose symptoms and opens a window for people to seek treatment for opioid use disorder. Administering naloxone will not harm someone who isn't experiencing overdose, she said, and victims often appear sleepy while overdosing from opioid use. The state has distributed about 15,000 naloxone kits in the last eight years to law enforcement, emergency medical services and schools across the state using a federal grant. About 3,600 kits have been distributed to public spaces through the new program so far. South Dakota's current plan in the Department of Social Services is to put a majority of settlement dollars into a trust fund to gain interest over time. Althoff said he wants to ensure the money is spent wisely rather than 'spend this precious resource for the sake of spending.' Jackley told South Dakota Searchlight he doesn't agree with the trust fund approach and he'd rather see the funds be put toward prevention and treatment immediately. That includes funneling some of the settlement money toward rehabilitation for South Dakota prisoners, he said. 'Today, there was a minimal amount of money used from that settlement to save lives,' Jackley said. 'We need to do more of that.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
