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LEWISTOWN -- Mike Hannon, Executive Director of Tri-County Drug and Alcohol Services, gratefully thanked the Mifflin County Commissioners for their support of the Emergency Opioid Settlement Agreement on Thursday during the board's regular meeting. Pennsylvania was awarded $2.2 billion in funding with $1.2 million coming to MIfflin County through the Opioid Settlement Funding Act.
"I am here to announce the enhancement and expansion of services made possible through the Opioid Funding Settlement Agreement that has been awarded to Mifflin County," Hannon said. "My department is responsible for overseeing drug and alcohol addiction prevention, intervention, outreach and rehabilitative health services in Mifflin County. In my 26 years with the Commission, I've never been this excited."
"This allows us to expand to more collaborative partnerships and that is what I've wanted for us for years," Hannon said. "Partnerships are our greatest asset in fighting substance abuse. These funds allow for additional impactful programs to be effective that have been out of reach due and unsustainable for years due to insufficient funding. We have created a two-county advisor council consisting of Juniata and Mifflin counties, which is very valuable for us. The funds assist us in expanding our accessibility. For example, the enhancement of a new drug and alcohol coordinator allows us to intake more people. We primarily provide services for the uninsured, underinsured and medical assistance population. Regardless of insurance, our staff will help everyone regardless of what their funding may be. We will help anyone navigate the insurance. If you don't have funding, we will help you with that. This funding allows for the further expansion of current programs and for newer programs like assisting people re-entering communities from incarceration who may have had or are dealing with drug and alcohol addiction problems."
"With funding made available through the agreement, we are able to put together a two-county partnership and partner with Juniata Valley Developmental and Behavioral Services. These funds allow us to keep up with trends in additional areas of prevention. We are working with transportation services and different agencies such as Children and Youth Services and the county jail. The after-hours drug and alcohol services have been non-existent for years and have consisted of an answering machine saying 'we will call you back, if you have a medical emergency please call 911.' This is not efficient and unacceptable. We now have 24/7 access for county residents. We partner with Juniata Valley Developmental and Behavioral services to ensure any individual in need of alcohol and drug rehabilitation services can access treatment 24 hours a day.
"We need to help transition people out of incarceration and into our community. Ultimately we want to divert people from going into the county jail. We also provide Narcan anonymously and if anyone needs to reach us, we are here to help you and save your life. We can be reached at (717) 242-1446."
Phil Lucas, Mifflin County 911 Emergency Response Director, through the Office of Public Safety also gave an update on the recent completion of the county 911 Emergency Response Center. The center now has upgraded technology that includes medical device and cell phone software alerts in addition to traditional calling. Medical device or smartphone medical emergency notification software allows the emergency response center to send visual data out to first responders in the field.
"This updated technology allows us to track cell phone locations as well as some pre-existing medical conditions and have quicker response times with more data being transmitted that would typically and traditionally have had to have been spoken from the person dealing with the crisis," Lucas said.
"The Mifflin County 911 Emergency Response Center receives approximately 103,000 calls a year with 28,000 emergency incidents annually according to county data. Mifflin County utilizes 10 computer systems in the 911 Emergency Center. The department also utilizes 36 radio channels, 32 telephone lines, three radio systems as well as three satellite systems. During a typical day, the center receives 180-220 calls and 90-110 incidents. During an emergency, these numbers can swell to 200-300 calls per hour depending on the severity of the emergency."
"We have fall detection from smart devices as well as medical devices," Lucas said. "We, on average, receive three or four of these calls a day. If you don't have cellphone service, the device will just alert you. However, if you have wifi, you can pass the information through the internet with your cell phone through apps or another device using the internet. For example, using Voice Over Internet Protocol or traditional landline."