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<br /> Town of Mashpee <br /> <br /> 16 Great Neck Road North <br /> Mashpee, Massachusetts 02649 <br /> <br /> <br />HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE – PUBLIC SESSION <br />Thursday, April 16, 2015 – 2:00 PM <br />Mashpee Town Hall – Waquoit Meeting Room 1 <br /> <br />Committee Members Present: Members Absent: Also Present: <br />Janice Walford, Vice Chairman Ruth Elias, Chairman Donna Mello, AIDS Support Group <br />Elinor Glener, Clerk Kathy Mohler-Faria of Cape Cod <br />Mary Bradbury Veronica Warden Gail Wilson, Human Services Director <br />John Cahalane <br />Mary Scanlan <br />Lynne Waterman <br /> <br />CALL TO ORDER <br />Vice Chairman Janice Walford called the meeting to order at 2:00 PM. <br /> <br />PUBLIC COMMENT – None. <br /> <br />REVIEW OF MINUTES <br />John Cahalane made a motion that the minutes from the March 19, 2015 meeting be approved as <br />presented. Lynne Waterman seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. <br /> <br />NEW BUSINESS <br /> Guest Speaker: Donna Mello, Aids Support Group of Cape Cod <br />Vice Chairman Janice Walford introduced Donna Mello, Harm Reduction Manager for the Aids <br />Support Group of Cape Cod, and welcomed her to the Human Services Committee meeting. <br /> <br />Donna Mello reported that 1,807 persons have enrolled in training across the Cape for the use of <br />Narcan. In 2014, 27 overdoses (OD’s) were reported. Of that number, 5 died, and 22 did not call <br />911. To date, there have been 217 OD deaths reported in the state of MA. (excluding Worcester <br />and Springfield). Many calls are not made to 911 for fear of arrest for distribution of opiates. Fatal <br />heroin doses in America have almost tripled in three years. More than 8,250 people per year now <br />die from heroin. At the same time, roughly double that number are dying from prescription opioid <br />painkillers. Heroin has become the fallback dope when an addict cannot find or cannot afford, pills. <br /> <br />Donna Mello distributed a Narcan kit to each committee member, and demonstrated how to safely <br />administer Narcan. Ms. Mello stated that unless opiates are present in an individual, the Narcan has <br />no effect. The effect of Narcan lasts about 90 minutes. In some cases 2 and sometimes 3 Narcan <br />doses are required to resuscitate the user. <br /> <br />Ms. Mello stated that resuscitation can also be accomplished via rescue breathing. <br /> <br />In addition to opiate and overdose epidemics, the Cape is now experiencing Hepatitis-C (Hep-C) <br />epidemics due to needle exchanges. A Rapid Hep-C test is now available, with 9 individuals tested <br />this past week. <br /> 1 <br /> <br />