Norwich — Overdose deaths were down in Norwich in 2021, but early experiences for 2022 have emergency responders concerned, highlighting the importance of an award-winning collaboration between city police and Reliance Health, a local mental health and substance abuse recovery agency.

City police, Reliance Health partners and U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, on Tuesday discussed how the program works and the critical federal funding recently secured to expand the program and keep it going for at least another year.

The city experienced 35 overdose deaths in 2020, said Michael Doyle, Reliance Health director of the recovery coach program. The number dropped to 26 in 2021. But he said there have been 14 already this year, seven in February alone. By this time last year, he said, there were nine overdose deaths in the city.

The growing presence of the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl, now starting to show up in pill form, is the main culprit, Doyle said.

The Norwich Recovery Program, which launched in January 2020, is a collaboration between city police and Reliance Health. Norwich police respond to overdose calls throughout the city, and part of that includes collecting information from the victims and their family members. If possible, a substance recovery coach from Reliance Health may accompany police on the “live” response. If not, police provide the information to Reliance Health, and a recovery coach contacts the family to offer support.

If the person is ready, support could be in the form of assistance in getting treatment, recovery coach Deanna Delaney said Tuesday. Often, it starts with an offer to have a cup of coffee and a chat about families, jobs or whatever, as frequently as the person wishes, just to keep communication open, Delaney said.

Reliance Health is located in downtown Norwich, with programs at 2 Cliff St. and office headquarters at 40 Broadway. For anyone in crisis, the agency’s mobile outreach phone number is (860) 886-9302.

The Norwich Recovery Program in December received the Collaboration Award from the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut. Reliance Health hired two recovery coaches for the program using a previous state overdose recovery grant. Courtney recently announced that Reliance Health will receive $125,000 this federal fiscal year to hire two additional recovery coaches. The money is from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services unit of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Separately, Norwich police will receive $700,000 for a much-needed upgrade of the police and fire computer-aided dispatch system. Police Lt. John Perry said the upgrade will help improve the Norwich Recovery Program by improving data collection on emergency calls.

The upgrade will include what Perry called improved transparency for the public, with an online map tracking incidents of crime throughout the city. Residents with doorbell cameras will be able to opt in and share their video recordings with police, he said.

Delaney and Doyle said a critical ingredient that has helped keep overdose deaths down is widespread distribution of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone, known under the brand name Narcan. Reliance Health recommends all households have doses of naloxone on hand, because overdoses can occur anywhere, whether on the street or in the home.

Many households have the overdose-reversal drug on hand, Doyle said, and the more Narcan in a community, the better.

“When somebody asks, ‘Do you guys need Narcan?’” he said, “The answer will always be ‘yes.’ Never say ‘no’ to Narcan.”

c.bessette@theday.com