Lisa Bernard-Kuhn: Will 2018 be the year that our region beats heroin?

WCPO Insider's Lisa Bernard-Kuhn stopped by Good Morning Tri-State to discuss how the Tri-State will be impacted by heroin in 2018. By most predictions, 2017 is expected to go down as another year that the opioid crisis claims a record number of lives in communities across the U.S.  In Hamilton County, officials believe that more than 530 deaths could be linked to opioid overdoses this year. That's far above the record set in 2016 when 403 lives were lost.  With each loss comes countless stories of pain and suffering: Lives wreaked by addiction, families ripped apart and communities left scrambling to find solutions.  But behind the bleak statistics are also stories of hope and progress. Locally, there is no doubt that this year would have logged more deaths and devastation if leaders had not been vigilant in ensuring first responders had the naloxone needed to reverse thousands of overdoses. Also key to saving lives: quick response teams that connect addiction specialists with residents who have recently overdosed to help get them into treatment. "We've been in emergency mode for so long because it's just so overwhelming, but we also need to be able to look up and take a more strategic approach to make sure we're filling the gaps using our resources wisely," said Hamilton County Commissioner Denise Driehaus, who also chairs the county's Heroin Coalition. "Everything we're doing is about saving lives and getting people the help and treatment they need."