CUHCC Offers Substance Use Disorder Assistance & Harm Reduction Services
Harm Reduction Services At CUHCC
Outpatient Suboxone Clinic
Suboxone Program Info
CUHCC's Outpatient Suboxone Clinic consists of:
- Initial Intake Visit - Meet care team, go over program guidelines and expectations, establish trust on both ends, collaborate to create individual treatment plan, sign necessary waivers, etc.
- Frequent visits with support team to manage dosage and monitor condition
- Medical team will evaluate correct prescription for participant to pick up at pharmacy of choice
Wound Care
Specialized care for wounds related to substance use. Compassionate care for:
- IV or injection related wounds
- Abscess Care & Treatment
- Skin & Soft Tissue Infections
Hepatitis C Testing & Treatment
Hepatitis C is a virus spread by contact with contaminated blood, for example, from sharing needles, unsterile tattoo tools, etc.
CUHCC offers Hep C testing and treatment programs! Meet with a provider today and talk about screening and treatment options.
Mental & Social Support
Whether your goal is to decrease use or stop, prevent infectious disease transmission; improve physical, mental, and social wellbeing; or are in need of low barrier options for substance use and mental health disorder treatment CUHCC can help in a variety of ways including:
- Harm Reduction
- Addiction Counseling
- Naloxone (Narcan) Distribution and Training
Case Managment : Connection to housing, food, resources, etc.
One-on-one Patient Support
One of the biggest assets to our Suboxone and Harm Reduction Program is our ability to offer one-on-one patient support from our empathetic Program Director. By building this connection at CUHCC you gain:
- A familiar and trutworthy face who supports you at clinic visits with medical staff
- Direct access to program director during working hours M-F
- Offers a solution based approach to address other barriers to your personalized recovery
FAQs:
What is Opioid Use Disorder?
Opioids are highly addictive pain-relieving drugs that can also cause sedation and euphoria. Unprescribed opioids and counterfeit pills can pose significant dangers to individuals and communities alike.
Individuals experiencing Opioid Use Disorder often have a severe physical and psychological dependence on one or multiple opioids. At CUHCC, we understand that no two people's journey with opioids are the same. That is why we offer a variety of services to meet your specific needs.
What is Fentanyl?
Fentanyl is a strong synthetic opioid that has been used in clinical settings for decades and is often described as 80-100 times stronger than morphine, or about 50 times stronger than heroin. It is responsible for many overdoses.
Fentanyl moving through the street market comes in the form of a white, gray or tan powder and can be injected, smoked, or snorted. It has also been found in other drugs, like heroin, meth, cocaine, and pressed pills.
Fentanyl and fentanyl analogues (some stronger, some weaker) are not“naloxone resistant.” They are opioids and will respond to naloxone in the event of an overdose.
- You cannot overdose simply by touching powdered fentanyl. This is a common myth, but fentanyl must be introduced into the bloodstream or a mucus membrane in order for someone to feel the effects. Transdermal fentanyl patches exist and are used primarily in medical settings, but are uniquely formulated to be absorbed by the skin.
What is Xylazine?
- It’s found in powder heroin/fentanyl mostly, and sometimes coke and meth
- It’s not an opioid. It’s a deep sedative, like clonidine or ketamine. It starts quickly and makes you fall out hard for about the first hour if you’re not used to it
- Xylazine can give fentanyl legs so you’re not sick again in two hours, but can be very dangerous when it shows up in dope unexpectedly
- If you have skin wounds that are not healing, it may be because of xylazine
- Naloxone doesn’t work on xylazine BUT it will help if the opioid/fentanyl is making it hard for them to breathe
Signs & Symptoms of an Overdose
- Loss of consciousness
- Unresponsive to outside stimulus
- Awake, but unable to talk
- Breathing is very slow and shallow, erratic, or has stopped
- For lighter skinned people, the skin tone turns bluish purple, for darker skinned people, it turns grayish or ashen.
- Choking sounds, or a snore-like gurgling noise (sometimes called the “death rattle”)
- Vomiting
- Body is very limp
- Face is very pale or clammy
- Fingernails and lips turn blue or purplish black
- Pulse (heartbeat) is slow, erratic, or not there at all
How to Respond to Opioid Overdose
If someone is not breathing (skin turning blue/gray, pinpoint pupils, deep gurgling sound) and not responsive, follow these steps.
STEP 1. Stimulate them awake by yelling their name and administering a hard sternum rub to the chest plate.
STEP 2. If you have naloxone/Narcan, use it. Administer one dose every two minutes.
- Injectable: Draw up entire vial and inject into thigh muscle (must be muscle’ed to work)
- Nasal: Stick the device all the way up one nostril and click the plunger, make sure the device is inserted fully (medication will absorb through the sinuses)
STEP 3. Call 911, explain someone is not responsive and not breathing
STEP 4. Provide rescue breathing
- Get the person on their back, tip their head back to straighten the airway, pinch their nose, put your mouth over theirs and form a seal, one breath every five seconds
STEP 5. When the person starts to breathe regularly on their own, roll them into a recovery position on their side
STEP 6. Be gentle with them and yourself afterwards!
What is Naloxone (Narcan)
Naloxone (A common brand is called Narcan) is a medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose. It is an antagonist. This means that it attaches to opioid receptors and reverses and blocks the effects of other opioids. Naloxone can quickly restore normal breathing to a person if their breathing has slowed or stopped because of an opioid overdose.
CUHCC has Naloxone available - just ask your provider!