Arizona City

Veterans of Arizona City meeting dec 14, 2023

by Jody Mueller, Secretary, Veterans of Arizona City

The meeting was held at the Arizona City Fire District. Peter Oleschuk, co-chair of Veterans of Arizona City shared details of program that he and his wife Dianne Oleschuk  did providing Narcan certified training in New York, and plans to create such a group together with county support and joint efforts with the Arizona City Fire District to provide training on the use of Narcan, as well as seeking grants to provide Narcan, training materials etc. to bolster such an effort for our area veteran and civilian population. Narcan is a lifesaving medication and it's wider distribution and training in use is needed more now than ever! Also announced at this meeting:  Veterans of Arizona City received our 501 C3 as a Not for Profit Organization this November!

Jeff McClure - District 4 Supervisor:
About programs to target drug overdose prevention. Special emphasis on the growing Fentanyl overdose crisis. Fentanyl is 50-100% more potent than morphine. Shared that 81.1%- 85% of those in the jail system have substance abuse issues. And only about 17% of those get any drug treatment before they are released. This results in the following rates of recidivism:
3 years – 68%
6 years – 79%
9 years – 83%
So focus is on drug diversion programs, for low to moderate offenders, no jail, instead, be put in community service programs with check-ins every 2 weeks for 1-2 years. This resulted in only 5% recidivism! 
He shared that the county gets $120,000 a year to give to various non-profits and has let us know of his support in assisting us in getting into this program to help our community.

Lt Allen Rogers - Arizona Rangers 
Shared that the rangers have been trained on the use of Narcan and appreciation for the support of Supervisor McClure, Veterans of Arizona City group, Chief Heaton, and the service of our Veterans! As a retired superintendent of an area school district, he reinforced the need of such an effort for our children's benefit.

Chief Jeff Heaton - Arizona City Fire District
Will partner with be partnering with this effort. He also shared that they provide CPR-First Aid training for free. This is critically needed for an overdose rescue. He has submitted the documentation for the training program for proofing and approval to assure that all training meets state health standards.

Much more was discussed. Please see video of the meeting on the Arizona City Residents Facebook group: Arizona City Residents

6 PM  ARIZONA CITY FIRE DISTRICT

Special Services Lieutenant for the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office

Our Guest Speaker is also a Veteran!

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