Finding purpose after son lost to overdose

Carole Trottere, director of communication in several posts, dedicates her life to drug fight

BY CAMERYN OAKES

Carole Trottere described her son Alex Trottere as a funny person who was a wonderful friend to so many people. He was a licensed welder who loved his career and was just getting ready to start a new job in Illinois when he died of a fentanyl overdose in April 2018 at the age of 30.

In the wake of her son’s death, Trottere told Blank Slate she felt as though she had lost her purpose. After nearly five years of grieving, she said she has found that purpose again through the overdose prevention advocacy work she now does.

Trottere spoke at a press conference Mondaywhere County Executive Bruce Blakeman announced the county’s implementation of Narcan kits, a life-saving overdose reversal drug, in 50 locations throughout the county. The Narcan kits will be placed in automatic defibrillator kits throughout the county. Trottere said she aided in establishing this.

In 2021, 270 overdose-related deaths were reported in Nassau County. Of those deaths, 190 were due to fentanyl, according to Blakeman.

While the 2022 data is not complete yet, Blakeman said that 172 overdose deaths have been reported in 2022 so far. He attributed the apparent decrease in overdose deaths to more access to Narcan throughout the county.

“The job’s not done until it’s zero,” Blakeman said.

He added that six out of 10 illegal pills the Drug Enforcement Agency tested this year contained enough fen- tanyl to kill a human being and fentanyl overdoses are the leading cause of death for those ages 18 to 45.

“This kind of drug doesn’t discriminate based on race, based on ethnicity, based on what their religion is, based on what their socio-economic status is,” Blakeman said. “This is a drug that’s insidious and it’s in every

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The implementation of the Narcan kits was achieved through a partnership between the county and the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence. LICADD is an organization that originated in Nassau County which provides services to combat issues related to alcohol and drug abuse.

Blakeman announced in September that the county is investing $2.4 million in drug treatment, education and prevention with the money they received through the opioid settlement between the state of New York and three of the nation’s largest drug distributors.

Blakeman said during Monday’s press conference that his office and the Legislature will be spending $15 million a year over the next four years for overdose prevention, drug treatment and education, which he announced in September. He said there is a meeting scheduled this month in which they will finalize the plans for how the money will be dispersed.

Blakeman said the decision for how the money will be distributed is taking a while as they are researching where the money can go for the best results. Distribution of the money should be done “very quickly,” he said, but did not provide an exact date, timeline or numbers as to how and where it will be divvied up.

Trottere said that the county’s implementation of Narcan kits is a step in the right direction for overdose death prevention in the county.

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