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Wayne County to create 24/7 post‑overdose response team, opts into additional opioid settlement funds
Summary
The Wayne County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously April 21 to opt into a recent class‑action opioid distributor settlement and to authorize a three‑year, fully opioid‑funded post‑overdose response team staffed by four full‑time positions to respond 24/7 to overdoses and related behavioral‑health needs.
Wayne County commissioners unanimously voted April 21 to opt into a class‑action settlement with several opioid distributors and to authorize spending from those settlement proceeds to create a county post‑overdose response team.
The vote to opt into the distributor settlement met a May 4 deadline; staff said the local amount Wayne County will receive depends on how many local governments join the settlement. "We have until May 4th to opt into it," a county staff member said during the meeting.
The more significant decision authorized a three‑year pilot post‑overdose response team led by a paramedic embedded in EMS operations. "This position is going to hit the ground running," said Dave Cutterback, Wayne County EMS director, who outlined the program. He told the board the team would operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and be trained to respond to overdoses, behavioral‑health crises, and outreach to populations such as people experiencing homelessness.
Cutterback described the program as both an immediate life‑saving response and a long‑term recovery connector: "Phase one is we have to stop our citizens from dying... Phase two is let's plan and start seeing how we take people that are still struggling with opioid addiction and we get them help. And then stage three would have been the connection of everybody and we want people to recover from this horrible addiction." He added the team would coordinate communication among agencies and provide follow‑up to connect people with treatment and services.
County staff said the resolution requests a three‑year commitment; the plan calls for four full‑time employees plus benefits, startup costs including a Ford Explorer and medication supplies, and operation fully funded from opioid settlement proceeds or funds covered by the North Carolina MOA where appropriate. "It's completely opioid funded," a staff member told the board.
Commissioners discussed the urgency of continuing overdose response and recovery work. One commissioner noted that recent years had brought both progress and renewed challenges: "We were right back in it again... we're right back in stopping people from dying from opioids," Cutterback said, arguing the program must operate around the clock because overdoses occur at all hours.
The board also voted to opt into a separate distributor settlement (Remnant and associated entities) to secure additional opioid funds outside the North Carolina MOA; county staff said the total local share will be determined by the number of governments that opt in.
Outcome and next steps: The board passed the opt‑in resolution and the resolution authorizing the post‑overdose response team unanimously. Staff indicated the award and program implementation will follow the county procurement and grant‑management processes and that a budget amendment consistent with the resolution's funding authorization would be processed as part of implementation. The board asked staff to coordinate with the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners and other agencies to finalize details.
