Routt County resident Kevin McAuliffe believes he is lucky to be alive with no brain damage.

In 2019, McAuliffe was living in a basement apartment in Aurora and was being hard on himself after relapsing following a long alcohol abuse treatment program. So, when a friend brought over some supposedly safe OxyContin opioid pills, McAuliffe said he thought he would try something new.

Yet, he was apprehensive because of the lethal dangers of fentanyl possibly mixed with illegal pills.

“I would never do any of that,” his friend assured him. “This stuff is good, labeled. It’s safe.”

McAuliffe crushed one-quarter of a pill and snorted it. About a minute later he dropped to the floor unresponsive. The friend yelled and banged at a roommate’s door and then fled in a panic.

Paramedics told McAuliffe they had to administer three doses of the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone to revive him. The rescuers said he was not breathing for about four minutes.

The illegal pill was laced with fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid drug 100 times more potent than morphine.

McAuliffe, 44, now works as a plumber. He said he is approaching four years of sobriety and appreciating life with his two “wonderful” older sons. He tells his overdose story as a volunteer for The Health Partnership’s Recovery Program. He carries kits of naloxone in his truck in case he needs to save someone else’s life.

“It’s really important, just because of the sheer availability of fentanyl and how potent it is, so easy for someone to get that little piece of that drug,” McAuliffe said.

Thousands of doses of naloxone have been handed out to local agencies and individuals across the Yampa Valley for at least the past four years.

After years of overdose death increases in Colorado, those fatalities are now decreasing statewide, largely attributed to education, distribution and use of naloxone or Narcan, experts say. Narcan is a brand name for a device that delivers naloxone.

Andres Guerrero, director of the Overdose Prevention Unit at the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment, attributes the decrease in overdose deaths to the work of a variety public and private entities. From the public health perspective, Guerrero points to the positive factors of the wide distribution of naloxone, increased education about the deadly dangers of fentanyl and education about substance use disorder.

The CDPHE reported 1,865 total drug overdose deaths in Colorado in 2023, but in 2024, with provisional data available so far, that dropped to 1,601, a 14% decrease in one year. Layered within that overall total, opioid related overdose deaths statewide dropped 24% in one year from 1,292 in 2023 compared to 981 in 2024, Guerrero said. Fentanyl-related deaths dropped approximately 30% from 1,097 in 2023 to 761 in 2024.

Guerrero said if people do use illegal drugs, they should have naloxone on hand and should not use alone because naloxone cannot be self-administered. He said test strips in harm reduction kits that are used to check for fentanyl-laced drugs or the veterinary tranquilizer Xylazine also can save lives.

Steamboat Springs Fire Rescue has administered naloxone in 65 incidents from 2018 through this year to date, Deputy Fire Chief Joe Oakland reported.

Steamboat Firefighter/EMT Russ Sanford, who has worked at the department 10 years, said he has seen how naloxone “worked miraculously” to restore breathing to a patient.

Steamboat Springs Police records show department personnel administered naloxone 21 times from November 2016 through February of this year. In January and in March, police were on scene when naloxone had been administered before they arrived.

Steamboat Police Detective Sgt. Sam Silva said the availability and wide use of naloxone “is having a huge positive effect.”

Routt County Sheriff’s Office personnel administered naloxone five times from 2018 to 2023, including three times during 2022. Sheriff’s personnel also have arrived on scene after naloxone was administered, including once so far this year.

Family or friends sometimes administer naloxone to people who overdose without reporting the situation to medical or law enforcement officials, Detective Silva said. “The best option is not to need it, but with addiction, if they are going use, have Narcan,” he said. “The best practice if you use Narcan is to call 911.”

Experts believe stigma plays a big part of why people may not want to call 911. However, medical experts recommend to call 911 in case additional medical attention is needed. Good Samaritan laws in Colorado protect people legally who administer naloxone.

In the Yampa Valley, naloxone is carried by police, sheriff, fire and ambulance professionals. In addition, the Youth Action Council program at nonprofit Partners for Youth distributed more than 400 boxes of two-dose naloxone to school nurses, teachers, coaches and bus drivers.

For the general public to keep naloxone on hand, free doses or harm reduction kits can be picked up no-questions-asked through the Routt and Moffat offices for Northwest Colorado Health, The Health Partnership, county public health departments and Health Solutions West (formerly known as Mind Springs Health).

Nicole Shatz, project coordinator with the Rural Alliance Addressing Substance Use Disorder-Colorado, believes residents should think about naloxone as a component to a first aid kit “because you just never know when you are going to have to administer it.”

“There is an increased access and availability of naloxone, so that has helped to support overdose-related deaths declining,” said Shatz, whose project has distributed 1,661 doses of naloxone in the past four years.

A variety of agencies can apply for supplies through the state’s Naloxone Bulk Purchase Fund. In addition, grocery stores and pharmacies sell naloxone over-the-counter for about $45.

Despite the decreasing death toll in 2024 statewide, drug overdose deaths remain a significant concern in Colorado and the Yampa Valley.

CDPHE database records from 2020 to 2023 in the drug overdose category of “any opioid analgesic natural, semi- or fully synthetic, methadone” show 17 people died in Moffat County and seven in Routt, often in the 25-34 age range.

Moffat County Chief Deputy Coroner Rebecca Warren said five people died in Moffat in 2024 from drug overdoses, including one each attributed to opioid and Fentanyl, opioid, cocaine, methamphetamine, and mixed prescription drugs. CDPHE continues to verify county-level data for 2024.

In his recovery, McAuliffe believes it is important for community members to reach out to support each other and for people to practice self-care to stay healthy.

“I’m really lucky to not have lasting brain damage or any other lasting effects for not breathing for long,” said McAuliffe, relating his story that is still emotional to tell. “It truly opened my eyes to how precious life is and how quickly it can be over.”

The Routt County resident works to surround himself with sober and supportive people and participates in men’s groups, yoga, AA meetings and the Buddhist Center of Steamboat Springs.

“It’s important for us men to stay vulnerable and just to put ourselves out there a little bit to support each other through difficult situations and try to get out of that box of masculinity,” McAuliffe said.