PORTLAND, OR -- One month after elected leaders declared a tri-government fentanyl emergency in Portland, city, county and state officials are defending their work.

"Every day, we are moving people from the street into either a treatment facility or into a temporary alternative shelter site," says Mike Myers, incident commander for the city of Portland. He adds, 18 who got into shelters through the emergency effort will move into housing in March. Myers also cites statistics from Portland Fire’s Overdose Response Team as evidence their efforts are working, "They’ve already saved dozens of people from overdose death in the past 30 days. Portland Fire and Rescue also launched an in-field drug treatment team and has distributed at least 1400 Narcan kits in the operational area."

But much of that work was already happening. And questions remain about what’s new as a result of the emergency structure. Portland Police Sgt. Jerry Cioeta says before the declaration, each effort - law enforcement, treatment, housing - worked separately, "It wasn’t until this started happening that we were actually out working together, that Portland Police, the Bike Squad, Neighborhood Response Team was working with the Street Services Coordination Team. We’re working with OSP, we’re working with CHAT, we’re all working together." Cioeta says that coordination allows them to surge drug enforcement in key areas alongside outreach workers. 

And, the leadership team announced Thursday, "Effective March second, two Bottle Drop sites, where there’s been highly acute fentanyl activity, will be suspended." Myers says the Governor and OLCC authorized the 30-day closure of the Bottle Drop in the downtown Safeway and a nearby Plaid Pantry, to cut off the funding some addicts use to buy fentanyl and study the impact of the closure. "The intent is not to simply move the problem around the corner in Portland. The [Multnomah County] Chair was very specific: it’s about not moving this problem into East County. And the Governor was very specific about not moving this to just another city."

Sean McGann, deputy incident commander for the state, says the goal is to create a response model that can be used elsewhere, "This is not just a Portland problem, it’s not an Oregon problem. This is an international problem." McGann adds, "Other municipalities, other communities can use the lessons that we’ve learned and replicate that as they address the fentanyl crisis in other regions." 

Information about the emergency incident command and monthly updates are available HERE. The emergency declaration is in place for 90 days. But McGann says the 91st day is as important as the first.