In years past, if someone in Richmond called 911 about an overdose, the response almost always came from the police. But if you were to call 911 about an opioid overdose in Richmond today, help often comes in the form of the city’s new crisis-response programs.
These programs are gradually shifting Richmond’s opioid treatment approach away from emergency law enforcement and toward coordinated care.
This new citywide coordinated response overhaul was the focus of the Opioid Awareness Community Forum held Thursday at Richmond Memorial Auditorium. For the first time, all of Richmond’s emergency response departments, public health agencies and community organizations were gathered under one roof to discuss and confront opioid overdoses, which quietly take dozens of local lives every year…