Six months in, downtown medics balance overdose calls with dedicated social work

Captain Steve Larsen gripped the wheel of the bright red Bellingham Fire Department van, weaving between traffic with sirens blaring. Larsen, a paramedic for more than a decade, was responding in June to another overdose — one of many he had faced in the last few years.

Larsen pulled into a gas station off Northwest Avenue and immediately recognized the patient. The man was a former client he’d supported for several months as part of the Community Paramedic program, newly relocated to downtown as part of the city’s efforts to combat the area’s fentanyl crisis.

The patient was up and walking already, having received several doses of naloxone and a round of CPR from friends. His hands shook and a sheen of sweat clung to his face as he sat in the back of the van while Larsen checked his heart rate and blood oxygen level. Outside, several friends milled about, talking about how blue his face had been just minutes before.

Despite nearly dying from an overdose, he refused transport to the hospital and said he didn’t want to talk to anyone besides Larsen — someone he had gotten to know over the last few months, someone he trusted.

The man had just been released from a three-week stint at a detox facility where he’d been involuntarily admitted. He returned to the same environment, returned to using drugs and immediately overdosed.

After Larsen checked the client’s vitals, the man quickly left, hopping in a family member’s car and speeding away, avoiding further contact with professionals who could send him back into detox.

Larsen’s sadness, mixed with frustration, was evident. The weeks of support he’d provided weren’t enough to combat fentanyl’s grip.

“He has no intention to stop doing what he’s doing and he doesn’t have the capacity or the strength to do that on his own,” Larsen said.

A Cascadia Daily News journalist spent five shifts with Community Paramedic teams to document the impact of the downtown opioid response team, put in place by Bellingham Mayor Kim Lund in February to fight the ongoing drug crisis. CDN is not naming patients who did not agree to be identified. READ MORE