Emergency response teams are miracle workers

The Family and Friends Support Group that meets at the Women’s Resource Center decided to write this letter to honor the emergency response personnel in Manatee County.

We all have loved ones suffering from substance use disorder. There are many articles in our paper regarding the effects of drugs in our community.

Our group is constantly trying to understand why our county is the epicenter of overdose deaths in the state of Florida. Every resource our county has is being consumed by this.

Unfortunately, once someone discovers drugs as a way to relieve the stress of our modern world , it is very difficult for them to stop when they want. The drugs, especially opiates, hijack the brain and body.

The effort one needs to break free of drug use moves way beyond the ability to “just say no.” The frontal lobes of the brain no longer work properly for reasoning and the body is physically dependent.

Going without opiates for a day begins a chain of symptoms that can be described as the worst flu you could imagine. It is not uncommon for people to die when they try to stop taking drugs. The body aches; vomiting and diarrhea are very intense.

The good news is people can and do recover. You cannot imagine how many of our loved ones were amazing, kind and talented people before drugs.

We hope you join us in thanking our police, EMS and hospital personnel for the daily efforts they put forth saving our loved ones’ lives. They are our unsung heroes. We pray that they can keep our loved ones alive until they can be successful at recovery. We cannot thank our Manatee County Miracle Workers enough.

This story was originally published December 31, 2016 at 3:45 PM with the headline "Emergency response teams are miracle workers."