Detroit unveils its Opioid Quick Response Team, which connects addicts to available services

(FOX 2) - In 2023, 430 people in Detroit died from an opioid overdose. The latest figures point to an epidemic that continues to ravish communities as cities struggle to approach addiction and drug use.

But in Detroit, the city is deploying a new method that relies on following up with users by not just providing services to help them get clean, but letting them know about how they can access those tools.

"There are far more people, Americans, our neighbors that are dying of opioid overdoses than you can even imagine," said deputy Mayor Todd Bettison. "It makes the homicide numbers look small."

It's a trend that the city's fire department commits much of its time to. Last year, officials administered narcan thousands of times, saving many lives, DFD's executive said.

"But typically, that’s where our services end," said Chuck Simms, executive fire commissioner. "It’s extremely exciting to know that those surviving patients will now receive a continuation of services."

The program is called the Detroit Quick Response Team and will kick in as soon as someone has been revived.

"The Detroit Fire Department's role in this program is to ensure that after the overdose survivor is stabilized, they are made aware of the services available to them," said Simms.

Overseeing the program is FAN, or Face Addiction Now. For the agency's program manager, the work is personal.

"Because I am a person in long-term recovery I was addicted to drugs and alcohol," said Thomas Hunter, FAN program manager for the new response team. "I know the pain and despair that comes with addiction and I also know with the right people in your corner and compassion and removing stigma how it can help somebody transform their lives."

It will be funded with opioid settlement dollars that the city received following lawsuits against distributors and manufacturers of drugs that got people hooked.

According to FAN's co-founder retired judge Linda Davis, while the community has an array of programs that are intertwined together, they often aren't visible enough to the populations that need them the most. 

The services are part of a larger continuum of care that deals with homelessness, mental health, food insecurity, and more. Addiction frequently plays a role in other barriers that build up in people's lives.

"We try to work with all of those issues that may be a block to you attaining long-term recovery," Davis said, "and we stay with you throughout the course. We need to stop revolving door to treatment."