For most people, this community’s heroin/opioid problem is something they’ve read about in the newspaper or heard about from the friends and family members of those affected. But Beth Koop, the editor of Butler County Business Matters, recently came face-to-face with the problem.

When Koop stopped to help the driver involved in a minor traffic accident, she found him “slumped behind the steering wheel” and “shaking from convulsions.” It was a scene that’s been repeated too many times in this community.

From her research for a story (“Price of the Problem,” April 2017), Koop knew that overdose-related deaths were on the rise in Butler County, from 33 in 2014 to 47 last year. In 2017, that number stands at 20 deaths as we write this.

In that story, Koop also wrote about naloxone, the heroin overdose antidote drug. Naloxone isn’t a cure for the problem, but it can revive a person and give them a second chance.

Now Koop was about to see naloxone being used.

“With the escalating drug crisis, I began to realize these first responders must go through this heart-wrenching ordeal every day — even several times a day,” Koop wrote in a column that appeared on this page last Sunday. “I thought, surely they have to muster up the courage to go back out every day and fight this often-discouraging battle with drugs.”

Emergency responders aren’t the only people fighting the battle against drug addiction in this community. Good Samaritans like Koop are also being drafted, whether they’re ready or not.

As the drug problem worsens, we can all expect to deal with it in one way or the other. Koop isn’t the first person to call for help to revive a person whose addiction had threatened their life. She won’t be the last.

This is a problem that challenges the entire community to recognize the warning signs and work to offer short-term solutions, like naloxone, and longer-term plans to help addicts take their lives back.

On Tuesday, there will be an opportunity for county residents to learn more about the local heroin/opioid problem and what can be done about it. The public meeting will be held 7 p.m. Tuesday in Butler Intermediate High School’s auditorium.

Back on Delwood Drive, the naloxone did its job. The young man was revived — given a second chance, really — and Koop was left to ponder the scene that had played out before her.

“While our community is experiencing a devastating drug crisis that seems to be spiraling out of control, it was refreshing to know the people of our community are still not ready to look the other way at the drug problem or hold it in disdain, but were ready to band together and do the right thing,” she wrote.

There are plenty of people working together to solve this problem. Some don’t even know yet that they’re part of the team.