Panel addresses overdose prevention with compassion, offers advice, effective tools

In an engaging and informative show of unity and compassion, local police officers and health experts came together at Hunters in Palm Springs Monday night to confront a growing crisis: drug overdoses—and how the community can help stop them.

The event, titled “Drugs Happen But Death Doesn’t Have To,” brought together representatives from the Palm Springs Police Department, DAP Health, and St. John’s Community Health to share harm reduction strategies, highlight available resources, and address the challenges surrounding substance use in Palm Springs and throughout the Coachella Valley.

“Lately we’ve had a few overdoses that could have been avoided through some different techniques, different strategies,” said Brent Heinze, moderator and executive director of the Safety Blows initiative, a personal safety and public awareness campaign, explaining the need for such an event.

Panelists pointed to fentanyl and methamphetamine as the most prevalent drugs currently being used in Palm Springs, while also raising concerns about dangerous additives like xylazine, an animal tranquilizer increasingly found in the local drug supply.

“We’re seeing more fentanyl use than I originally thought would be happening as a drug of choice,” said Neil Gussardo, harm reduction supervisor at DAP Health. “We’re seeing other drugs being added to that. Xylazine, specifically a veterinary tranquilizer, which is pretty dangerous stuff.”

Jonathan Leiva, harm reduction program coordinator at St. John’s Community Health, described a shift in how drugs are being consumed.

“What we’ve been seeing is that a lot of the drug trends are going from using syringes to using glassware,” Leiva said, referring to pipes and other smoking devices.

Palm Springs Police Officer Justin Lawler confirmed the shift. “Most of our calls for service are not dealing with needles, it’s more so of the glass bulbous type.”

The panel emphasized the life-saving importance of Narcan (naloxone), an overdose reversal medication that blocks opioid receptors. Leiva even gave a live demonstration of how to administer Narcan and perform rescue breathing during an overdose.

“A person who is overdosing is not available to help themselves. So it’s up to us and up to others to have Narcan with them,” Gussardo said, encouraging attendees to take free Narcan provided at the event.

According to Gussardo, community members reported 728 overdose reversals in Palm Springs in 2024 alone. “That’s not DAP doing that. That’s the folks who are out there with their community saving each other,” he said.

Palm Springs Police Lt. Gus Araiza reminded the audience about California’s Good Samaritan Law, which protects individuals from arrest when calling 911 to report an overdose.

“There’s been a lot of lives lost with individuals that were in a group, there was somebody that suffered an overdose, and they were either abandoned or they were just dropped off at the hospital,” Araiza said. “It’s important to take care of your loved ones, your friends.”

Rather than focusing solely on arrests, Lawler said he tries to approach calls with empathy and a long-term perspective.

“I like to try to come up with more long-term solutions and something where I’m not going to be responding to somebody again the next day,” Lawler said. “I try to sit down, find out the backstory, what’s going on, talk about different medical resources that we have.”

Panelists also spoke about how stigma and shame prevent people from seeking help. Gussardo stressed the importance of using person-first language.

“You’re not going to hear us use the word addict,” Gussardo said. “You’re going to hear us talk about people who use drugs. People-first language. We want to humanize that this is a person before anything else.”

Leiva added that people who use drugs often face bias from health care workers and first responders, which creates additional barriers to care.

“Imagine there’s somebody who’s been living homeless, have this image that a lot of people don’t always agree with,” Leiva said. “So they already have a bias towards this individual. So that type of help that is patient-forward, empathy-forward is non-existent.”

The panelists offered practical advice for community members who have loved ones struggling with addiction, emphasizing the importance of compassion, patience, and being prepared with information.

“The biggest thing is knowing your resources,” Leiva said. “When a person is ready, you don’t want to be there fumbling about like, where am I going to take you?”

Lawler shared a personal story about losing his best friend to an overdose two years ago. He encouraged attendees to approach loved ones with honesty and care.

“My suggestion is to be honest, to be more open and understanding, and don’t accuse somebody,” Lawler said. “Try to have a conversation with them to see how their life is doing and just get a little bit more personal and more close with family and with friends.”

Throughout the evening, the panel reinforced the idea that collaboration — between law enforcement, health services, and everyday community members — is essential to reducing harm and saving lives in Palm Springs.

“We’re not going to arrest our way out of this,” Lawler said. “But we can connect people with the help they need.”

DAP Health provided free Narcan and fentanyl test strips at the event, and Gussardo noted that the response to these harm reduction tools has been encouraging.

“We’ve seen more and more people asking for Narcan and learning how to use it,” he said. “That’s how we got to 728 reported reversals last year — people saving each other.”

As the city and the nation grapples with the realities of substance use, the evening’s message was clear: overdose prevention is a shared responsibility — and one that starts with showing up, staying informed, and treating every life as worth saving.

“You don’t have to be a medical professional to make a difference,” Leiva said. “You just have to care.”

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