By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services has initiated a new effort aimed at preventing opioid overdose deaths in the industrial sector, starting in the seafood industry.
The project originated with the work of the state Public Health Nurse in Sitka, Denise Ewing, and her husband, Gary Johnston.
“Project Gabe” is an effort to increase opioid misuse awareness, and provide education and prevention resources to employers. So far it’s been fully implemented in the seafood industry in Sitka, and over time will expand to other areas and industries, DHSS said in a news release.
The initiative is named for Ewing and Johnston’s son Gabe, who died of an opioid overdose in January in Washington.
“This project is providing a way for me to help others as I grieve the loss of our son,” Ewing said. “Gabe was bright, witty, opinionated, adventurous and full of creative energy. He loved hunting, camping, fishing and being outdoors. He was first introduced to drugs during his teenage years from a friend whose father had been prescribed pain medications. Unfortunately, Gabe became addicted after one pill, which led to more than 14 years of polysubstance abuse.”
After Gabe died, his parents thought, “This is something we can do something about,” Ewing said.
Ewing worked to get the project off the ground in cooperation with Sitka seafood plants at the start of this year’s sac roe herring fishery. She had already established good working relationships with processors since arriving here around the start of the pandemic, and helped the plants develop their COVID safety plans and organize vaccination clinics.
She distributed the first opioid emergency boxes at Sitka Sound Seafoods, Silver Bay Seafoods and Seafood Producers Cooperative.
Denise Ewing, Sitka public health nurse, right, assembles naloxone kits with Sarah Hargrave, state Division of Public Health regional director last week in Juneau. (Photo provided to the Sentinel)
Bill Grant, plant production manager at Sitka Sound Seafoods, commented in the announcement about the program: “The majority of our workforce fits into the highest risk age group for drug overdose deaths – men who are 25-34 years old. ... We care about our people and are grateful to have the tools to do something about it in an emergency.”
Project Gabe uses an existing DHSS program, Project HOPE, to distribute naloxone, a medication that can reverse an opioid overdose, and fentanyl test strips.
The program is providing education and naloxone free of charge through:
– installing opioid emergency boxes in common rooms within processing facilities, bunkhouses and offices.
– distributing water-resistant bags containing naloxone to fishing vessels.
– providing opioid overdose kits to individuals to keep on hand in any location.
– partnering with industry to provide education to Alaska workers about the risks of opioids and substance misuse.
Ewing said naloxone kits should be as basic in a workplace environment as are automated external defibrillators (AEDs), first aid kits and fire extinguishers. Workers will learn about their use in the same manner, and know where to find them, she said.
“It’s just another lifesaving tool mounted alongside other things,” she said.
Public Health Nursing is working on the project in partnership with the Office of Substance Misuse and Addiction Prevention and members of the seafood industry.
Ewing said the seafood industry is a starting point, but it shouldn’t be assumed that the seafood industry has more problems with opioids than any other sector.
“Opioid misuse is a problem all over, but being involved with the plants I saw an opportunity to provide information to the masses,” she said.
Dr. Anne Zink, Alaska Chief medical officer, expressed her support for the program.
“This project builds on work already being done throughout the state by delivering an important message directly through workplaces to working Alaskans. Naloxone is safe to use and easy to administer,” she said in the press announcement. “Project Gabe makes it even more accessible as time is critical in an overdose. Naloxone can save a life when used right away, and we need to ensure it is widely available in every ship, every processor, every workplace in Alaska. Project Gabe is a critical step in that direction, sadly in memory of a young man gone too soon.”
More information on Project Gabe can be obtained by email to projectGabe@alaska.gov.
Information about opioids in Alaska is available at opioids.alaska.gov, and employer resources for addiction in the workplace can be found on the DHSS website.
