Desert Healthcare District launches fentanyl education campaign with Riverside Public Health

The Desert Healthcare District and Riverside Public Health are introducing their fentanyl education campaign and survey in the City of Indio.

"It comes down to saving lives, we need to save lives," said Wendy Hetherington, principle investigator for the Riverside Overdose Data to Action program.

The fentanyl campaign and survey was created to better address the drug crisis in the valley, starting in an area that has seen an increase in fentanyl-related overdoses.

Wendy Hetherington, the principle investigator for the Riverside Overdose Data to Action program, says that the Latinx community has been the most affected by the crisis locally.

“We noticed that the Latinx community's numbers of overdose deaths were increasing in 2022 and so we reached out to a variety of community-based organizations that work with this population," said Hetherington.

The campaign is meant to educate the public and identify the most vulnerable populations during community events. A community event has already been held at the ABC Recovery Center which is based in Indio.

Indio council member Waymond Fermon, who has engaged in his own outreach to help community members struggling with fentanyl addiction, says he is in full support of this new effort.

“We are the biggest city in the Coachella Valley. So I think naturally, we're going to have higher numbers. But it's also a great place to start and start getting the education and awareness out there to our community about the dangers of fentanyl, and how we can combat it," said Fermon.

During community events, the goal is to gage the public's knowledge regarding the dangers of fentanyl and provide educational resources. Attendees are also asked to fill out a survey that covers their demographic information, personal awareness about the drug and if they are currently using the drug.

Riverside Public Health will use this survey data to create a report that highlights the data they collected in the City of Indio in September. This report will then be used to identify effective harm reduction and awareness efforts that can be used to further address the fentanyl crisis.