The ballroom located inside the Jennifer Leavitt Student Center played host to a community education dinner that was hosted on Monday evening. This education dinner was sponsored by the Carbon and Emery Opioid and Substance Use Coalition, as well as USU Extension.
The evening began when Ashely Yaugher, Professional Practice Extension Assistant Professor of Health and Wellness for USU Extension, welcomed all in attendance, inviting them to gather food at the taco bar. Desserts were also available to those that had room following the meal.
Yaugher stated that the coalition is a collective effort composed of many great organizations in the community. The choice was made for everyone to come together for a broad, yet precise, overview of what anyone may wish to know about the opioid crisis, thus the education dinner was created.
Upon registration, gift bags with resource books, the presentation outlined, a feedback survey and more were distributed. Those in attendance were encouraged to follow the presentation in their books and welcomed to ask questions at the end. All present were also asked to complete a survey before leaving.
Commissioner Larry Jensen gave a brief history of Carbon and Emery counties, also thanking everybody in the room for attending. Following that, the statistics and reports began. Per 100,000 individuals, there are 87.9 deaths related to drug overdose overall in Carbon County. In Emery, that number is 51.7. It has been stated that 80 percent of those that use heroin started with a prescription medication and, as of 2016, Utah has the seventh highest rate of opioid overdose in the nation.
Carbon and Emery counties are also both credited as the highest rate of overdose. Joining Yaugher were other representatives of the cause such as Amanda McIntosh and Justin Sacco.
The evening continued with action items, such as learning more about the resources in the community, discussion on opioid addiction and ending the stigma, a naloxone training and more. Following the presentation, a panel was hosted with many in the area willing to answer questions and brainstorm solutions for the epidemic.
