Gastonia Drug Issues On The Rise; How Are First Responders Handling It?

Emma Mondo,

GASTON COUNTY – Gaston County Police say they have made dozens of drug busts in the past year, and that is all because of the growing presence of fentanyl in the county, and the ability to get it at a cheap price.

Captain Jeff Phelps with the Gaston County Police Department Special Investigations Unit sees it first hand.

β€œWe’re seeing an unprecedented amount of fentanyl coming into our community,” said Phelps. “Amounts’ of drugs we’ve never seen before.”

Phelps says fentanyl has basically replaced heroin all together in the county. In years past, Gaston County PD would measure the drugs seized by grams. Now, they have gone beyond thousand of grams and began calling them kilos. Last year, 100 kilograms of fentanyl were seized in Gaston County and 100,000 fentanyl pills.

Even though drugs are coming in at a quicker rate, overdose numbers are starting to drop. When people overdose, Gastonia Emergency Medical Service and the Gastonia Fire Department step in.

β€œWhether that’s Narcan, we can do some interventions as far as providing oxygen for the patient,” says Captain Brandon Miller with GEMS.

Narcan plays a major part in helping fatal overdose numbers drop. Captain Miller has administered Narcan to overdose patients many times.

β€œThis medication is beneficial to have in the community,” he says. “It can mean the difference between life or death for a patient.”

Gastonia Fire Battalion Chief Brandon Pressley has also given Narcan to a patient. His team responds every time there is an overdose call. So far this year, they have had 77 calls for Narcan.

β€œWhen we didn’t have Narcan on the fire trucks, that was a little more difficult because we did have to wait on EMS to get there,” said Pressley. “So now we’re able to make a difference for them.”

Not only are Gaston County first responders working to make a difference for people who overdose, but also people who are charged with minor possession.

The evolution of fighting drugs in the County has lead to the new Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, or LEAD.

β€œInstead of arresting someone for a small amount of drugs, a low level offender can now be diverted into community based wraparound services to truly focus and getting them help so it keeps them out of the criminal justice system and oriented toward getting help,” said Captain Phelps.

Phelps says that the fatal and non-fatal overdoses are each down 30%.

β€œSo programs, Narcan, it’s making a big difference.”

Captain Miller with Gastonia EMS also says that they have a program known as the Community Paramedic Program. These paramedics get on the patients level and have the extra time to spent with the patient and figure out the root causes. They are able to then make a connection in the community to different wraparound services.