LAREDO, TX – The mayor of the city of Laredo, Victor Treviño, participated in the Mayors Summit on Fentanyl in New York.
Treviño was invited by New York City Mayor Eric Adams to attend the two-day event for the purpose of discussing the fentanyl crisis affecting most cities, including breakout sessions where participants had the opportunity to envision solutions to this public health emergency.
During the first day of the summit, Mayor Treviño was a presenter at one of the breakout sessions on the topic of treatment strategies. The topic was “Binational Collaboration and Treatment Strategies in Medically Underserved Communities,” where he shared details of the data collected and the efforts currently underway in the local community by the collaboration and conjunction of various departments.
Among the actions that the City of Laredo will implement is the ROOTS Recovery Center, which will offer services to people ages 18 to 70 in a 24-bed facility that is projected to open soon.
Treviño also mentioned the contribution of the Laredo Fire Department and its Opioid Response Team, which began in 2022 and consists of a group of 30 LFD paramedics.
Some of the group’s contributions include the team assigned to make post 911 visits for any suspected overdose. They have also scheduled visits to Laredo high schools in an effort to educate youth about the risks of fentanyl and conduct outreach visits to non-profit organizations to supply people with Narcan and other items in a kit so they can help save lives.
Another main strategy is the collaboration created with the various agencies whose missions coincide in alleviating a large number of overdoses.
“As we see overdose-related deaths reach historic proportions in Laredo, fentanyl has created a public health crisis in every community in the United States. In addition to talking to families in hospitals devastated by these overdoses, some of the biggest challenges will be encouraging parents to talk to their children about the fentanyl-tainted medications marketed to them. Addressing this problem will require a binational and society-wide approach,” said Treviño.
During the second day of the summit, the mayor of Laredo assisted in the creation of the cross-city working group that will prioritize the collection of tools that will impact the fight against fentanyl and the broader opioid crisis in the United States.
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