Recently, the Seneca-Cayuga Nation received a Tribal Opioid Response Grant (TOR) from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
This grant gives us a critical new tool for helping people who are impacted by Opioid addiction. Jimmy Murray is the TOR Grant Manager; we sat down with him to understand TOR grants and the work he does.
The SAMHSA has created the TOR grant “to address the opioid crisis in Tribal communities by increasing access to culturally appropriate and evidence-based treatment, including medication for the treatment of opioid use disorder (MOUD).” (www.samhsa.gov)
For the Seneca-Cayuga Nation this has three main components that make up the work Jimmy does.
First, Jimmy works to place people into residential addiction treatment programs. The TOR program is able to help people from any tribe who are addicted to opioids, be placed in a residential treatment program. Typically, people are placed in a 30-day program in Tulsa, but this can be adjusted to meet the patient's needs.
Jimmy works with people who walk in seeking treatment, as well as referrals from other healthcare providers. No matter how Jimmy gets in touch with someone, he always works with them to understand their history and situation to place them in a program that will be effective for them.
The second part of Jimmy’s work is addiction awareness and prevention. These events help people understand the dangers of addiction and connect with prevention and treatment resources. Watch for Jimmy and other members of the Substance Abuse Program team at various Tribal and community events, such as holiday parties and Hope Fest.
Another critical aspect of Jimmy’s work is to make Narcan available to the community. Narcan is a fast-acting medication that reverses an opioid overdose by blocking the effects of drugs like heroin, fentanyl, and prescription painkillers. It can restore normal breathing within minutes, even if the person is unconscious. It’s safe to use, easy to administer as a nasal spray, and won’t harm someone if they weren’t actually overdosing. Having widespread access to Narcan is an integral part of preventing overdose deaths.
Narcan doses are available at the Tribal complex for free to anyone who would like to have it on hand. Along with making Narcan available, Jimmy provides training to anyone who would like more information about its use. However, even without training, Narcan is easy to administer. If you encounter someone who is experiencing an opioid overdose, Narcan is given through the nose, much like a nasal spray, and quickly counteracts the drug.
Giving Narcan to someone who has overdosed due to addictive behavior is not the only reason to have it available in your household. For example, many people use prescription opioids for medically necessary reasons. People (particularly the elderly) may accidentally overdose if they forget that they took medicine that day and take too much. Having Narcan available in the home dramatically increases the chance of survival in these situations. Narcan can also be given to pets if they accidentally ingest opioid pills.
Jimmy’s passion for this program comes from personal experience as a child in a home with adults who were addicted. Jimmy says that “I don’t want other people to have an experience similar to mine.” We are thankful to Jimmy, along with Kormah and Ruthann, for their tireless work helping our community be healthy.
If you or someone you know is seeking treatment for opioid addiction, or you would like Narcan to have for emergencies, call Jimmy Murray at (918) 791-6024 or email him at jmurray@sctribe.com.