Brenda Tyrrell, Prevention Specialist, Community and Family Resources, October 12, 2026

Brenda Terrell and Brenda. Good morning. Good to have you here. We have a lot of, well, we have some actually not too bad of weather to start out. I told him. Beautiful day today. We'll take it. Yes. I did. One of the things I did mention earlier was that last time when we visited, we had Brent Diane Hinderacher with you. And you were talking about safe, safe coalition and again, trying to get rejuvenated and get more people involved. And once again, the need has not gone away. Right. The substance abuse free environment. And this is the time of the year. Really, when we start to see some of those things like we would have the red ribbon week and those kinds of things still going to be around doing things like that, I'm guessing. Yes, absolutely. Yeah, we've got some red ribbon things that were we haven't got solid plans yet, but we're getting there with red ribbon week also. And I think that you're hitting on something nice because there's a lot of family and time away from people or from like schools and stuff that are coming up. So we've got some time to fill for people. And you kind of head into the holiday time. And it's always about, you know, I remember safe that one of the big things was just planting wise, you know, wise. Yeah, handling those holidays. Yeah, activities wise. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, more for the committee to do. Yeah. No, still looking for people that might be want to be involved, right? Exactly like that. So basically, get ahold of you or get ahold of Diane. Yeah, yeah. So you can contact me at Brenda T at CFR help. Sorry, CFR helps.org. I always forget the helps part. Get that part. Or you can give Diane an email or a call. We do meet every third Monday, for 15 to 515 usually at the probation office. And then we talk about things like how can we help the community. So for example, one of the things that we are doing to help the community is drug take back day, which is on Saturday, October 24 from 10 to 12. Yep. So Project Safe will be there in some capacity to help with that. So just get if you've got medications that you're not using anymore, bring them in and we will take care of those for you. And I know the PD. I've already seen the flyer for the police department. Yes. And I remember the first one. And, you know, and I remember that, well, they had just a huge bucket of everything. And that was a long time ago. Yeah. And we're still doing it. And you still get large amounts. Yeah. Yeah. Which is a good thing. Yeah. Yeah. We want it properly disposed of. Yeah, absolutely. I think one of the first ones was that they took a picture and somebody was using it. I think part of maybe, maybe DEA was using it. I don't know. Yeah. I think it was the one from Boo. Mm hmm. That they had done so. Yeah. Yeah. Still, yeah, all the pretty colors. Yeah. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. But that's part of it. Part of it is. And and I'm guessing that's still one of those challenges for as a prevention specialist that unused pharmaceuticals find their way to somebody's hands and they will find a way to use them. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's really very scary because I mean, as a as a mother and as a prevention specialist is really a challenge or a fine balance when you're trying to make sure that when somebody offers your your child here, take the Sudafad or take this other thing. Yeah. If you don't feel good, they're not 98% of the time they're probably not. They don't probably have malintent, but you don't know until it happens. Yeah. So that's so scary. So well, that's one of the many things that I just wanted to hit on. Yeah. I know we're into that time of the year and it's it's good. But drug take back day on the 24th. Yep. And I remember one of the big things we always would tell remind people is if you do have expired out of date prescriptions or over the counter medications, especially prescriptions, you know what, just take a black magic marker and color over the label. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the PD is not interested in that. Not at all. And neither have safe disposal. Neither is the DEA. So they're not going to go through every single one of those pretty pill bottles. Yeah. So. But a lot of times they just dump them and get rid of them. So again, the other part is the over the counter medications people tend to forget about. Yeah. And those are still issues too. Yeah. It's very interesting that you mentioned that because I was looking, this is a weird kind of off topic thing. But I was looking at over the counter lemodal and it actually is has an opioid like substance in it. So if you're not reading what is in your medication, you might unintentionally be reacting to something because of what is in the ingredient, even though it is over the counter. And you might think it's more safe because it's over the counter. So read the labels. Read the labels. Well, when I told everybody that you were coming, I said, Brenda, does all of these things. CFR has a lot of opportunities and you spend a lot of time training people about these things. Yes. Absolutely. About the benefits of the programs that CFR offers. So what have you got up for training coming up here? Yeah. So we've got a couple of different locations and a different type of training for each location. So on this Saturday, October 17th, from 9 30 to 11, we're going to be hosting a Narcan training at the Ames Public Library. With our Narcan trainings, we not only give you the training for about how to use it, why to use it, what's important about naloxone, so on and so forth. We also provide a free box of Narcan. So anybody who comes to the training gets a free bottle or free box of Narcan to take home with them. Additionally, if they use that box, then they can just contact us and they get another free box. Okay. And that just highlights how important it is to get Narcan out into the communities where it can do the most good. Because you don't know you need Narcan until you need Narcan. So if we can get more boxes out into the community, we want to do that. So there is a QR code, I believe, on the library's website. If you go to the calendar events and if you're interested and want a box of Narcan that day, sign up there because we're going to use that number to take that many boxes. But if you aren't able to do that and you show up anyway, you might not get a box that day, but we'll make sure that you do get a box. And this would be the Ames Public Library. Right, the Ames Public Library. Okay, so Sir James Public Library. Yep, yep, yep. So I can understand where some people are going to, why would somebody, you know, semi-retired, maybe living in the neighborhood, why would they want to have? Why would they want to get training for this and stuff? I'm guessing family members, some of the neighbors. Neighbors, yeah. I mean, it's just so prolific. You don't know when you need it. Exactly, right. And it is so prolific and it is a killer, you know, opioids are a killer, but the Narcan reverses that. And the thing I think that trips a lot of people up is that there are, it will not do anything if you don't have an opioid in your system. So there's no risk of giving it even if you're not sure this person is having an opioid overdose. It's not going to do anything unless there's an opioid in their system. And so I think a lot of people might feel anxious about giving it or giving it incorrectly. It is so easy to give and you're right. You don't know, you might be walking in the park and see somebody, right? And like, okay, are you going to walk past or are you going to use your bottle of Narcan? You know, so I think it is important just to get as much Narcan out there as possible. And the steps of hope boxes are doing that to a certain extent. But to have personal Narcan on you at all times, our vehicles, when you can see here, our vehicles have Narcan kits in them. So you could keep them in your car. If I thought we could get away holding it up to the microphone. Yeah, I'm showing it to you. Imagine Vanna White. But it's basically, it's like a baggy. Yeah. A fabric. It's, yeah, it's not even that. It is, I'll show you what it looks like. It's in here, but actually there's two of them in here. So it looks like this. It's very tiny. Yeah. A small little thing. Yeah. Yeah. Looks like a little, almost inhaler. Yep. Yep. And it's two doses per box. We call this a box. It comes in a box. But so, and you know, with Narcan, you, you give it, you can give it safely as many times as needed. Okay. So again, it's not going to work unless there's an opioid. Yeah. Okay. So yeah, that's what it looks like. It's very small. It's, you know, fits nicely in a little bag. It fits nicely in a glove compartment, in a car or vehicle, even a tractor, you know, you can stick it in a tractor and be okay. So, yeah. And I know emergency responders that they've all pretty well, keep supplied on that. Yeah. But I was going to say, you mentioned the steps, the steps of hope boxes. And we've got, I think four in the county. So one in Boone, one in Madrid, Ogden and Luther. Luther now, yeah. We do, they are out there. And part of it would be, if you want to learn how to use what's in there. Yes. Just to be informed. Yes. Yeah. Go, go to a training. Yeah. Go to a training. Yeah. And you know, honestly, it doesn't do any, knowledge is never bad, you know. So just knowing that this exists out in the world and knowing, you know, why it does it happen? What, what is the impetus of this whole opioid crisis that we're in? You know, even having that knowledge makes you better prepared to know what to do, should you run across it? So. And we know that again, when I go back to the drug take back day, you know, we know that some people have some or may have not taken all. Sometimes a lot of people, they just, you know, not real comfortable taking the thing. But if they still have that sitting around in, in their medicine cabinet or something like that, somebody else might accidentally. Absolutely. Yep. Yeah. And you know, so, you know, before drug take back day, what I would suggest is if you have some medication that you're not taking, or even if you are taking it, check the expiration date. If you're not using it, bring it. If it's expired, bring it. So just go through your medicine cabinet or your, your pill containers, whatever, and check your dates. Yeah. Do that. Anyway. Yeah. Ark hand training over in Ames. Ames public library, go online and get yourself signed up. Yep. Yep. Yep. We'll have other opportunities. Absolutely. I'm pretty sure that's a regular one that you can make available. Lots of people. Yep. Yep. Lots of people. Any others coming up besides it? Yes. So we have two more in our current series of the substance misuse series at Ericsson Public Library. The next one is November 2nd. It's not a Tuesday. We usually do it on Tuesday nights, but it is not a Tuesday. So we had to make some adjustments in the schedule. It is from 4.30pm to 6pm, and it is Drug Trends, which is a new one. It's not one that we've presented there before. So really excited about that. And then the next one is in December. It's December 1st, Tuesday, December 1st, and it is Kratom and other novel drugs. And so this. Highly controversial. Highly controversial. There's a lot happening in the world of Kratom these days. Which was one that you had talked about, folks, when she was back on. When the legislature was in session, that was one of the pieces of legislation. We were hoping that there would have been some action to do some limitations. Right. And along that conversation on, I think it was Friday, Senator Grassley with two other senators from different states wrote an emergency letter to their governors asking to have an emergency declaration for a controlled substance level one for not only Kratom, I have to look at the spelling because it's a hard word to say. Seven hydroxymitragyne, mitragyne, that's it, mitragyne. These are very volatile and they can kill in one shot. So the thing that they want to do is they want to make it a permanent controlled substance schedule one, which means that there's no accepted medical use to take it. And also there's a high potential for abuse. So there's a behind the scenes actions happening with trying to get Kratom regulated. And so if you don't know Kratom isn't regulated by the FDA because it's technically identified as a herbal supplement. So what can happen with Kratom is that it mixes with like prescription medication. And so there's really no way to monitor that. So we don't have a list of don't take Kratom if you're on these medications because we don't know until it happens because no one's tracking it. And also it's sold in stores, right? So we don't want it to be sold in stores. So the only way to do that is to make it a controlled substance. So that is the behind the scenes of things that are happening in the Kratom world. We're trying to keep it's happening. So it happens really quickly and then there's nothing for a while. And then it happens really quickly again. So we're trying to keep our finger on that pulse because the Kratom death rate is pretty high in Iowa. And so we want to not have that go higher. So coming to this Kratom presentation will give you a sense of why Kratom is so dangerous and why or how come it's not on the controlled substance use list already. Okay. So and remember I get a reminder again. What we're talking about is the educational presentation. Yes. On December 1st. Yes. That'll be at the Ericsson Public Library. Exactly. And that one is at 6 to 8 p.m. Okay. Yeah. Usually up in the upstairs meeting room I would be my guest. Again, certainly welcome to come and find out more about what's happening. Yes. Yeah. And it is, you know, I feel like if you have any questions about any kind of like opioids or Kratom or any other kinds of medications or drugs, right, these are free. They're excellent sources of information. They're highly researched and updated. So you're going to get the real scoop at these programings. And then you can like share that wealth with your neighbors and the, you know, the community. So there is a, we're building knowledge, community wide knowledge. Yeah. So. So in the back, you go back to one on Monday, the second, which was moved up again. So it's going to be on the second. Yes. And that one was again. Drug trends. Drug trends. Yep. So that talks about all different kinds of drugs and like where they came from. But the data shows is we're seeing increases and I'm guessing Kratom will be showing up there too. Yep. Yep. Well, the last I heard, this has been a couple of months ago, is that we get our presentations from Iowa HHS. So, and through Iowa State University's professional PTC, I think is what it's called. Anyway, so they make our presentations for us and my understanding is they're working on a new presentation that is only about Kratom. Okay. And then everything else will fall under other different categories. But the curiosity and the need for information about Kratom has made it important enough that it's going to be its own presentation. Sure. So. And I'm guessing the one on new trends or what's happening would be, okay, well, here's what we're seeing. We're seeing resurgence maybe in some of the pharmaceuticals. Right. That. Right. You did not take to your drug take-back day. Right. Also trends just over time. Yeah. Like here's when this thing happened. Here's what it looks like now. You know, so just over time how the drug trends have changed, shifted, what might may have or may have not contributed to that shift so on and so forth. Cannabis, cannabidiol. Again, we've seen a variety and it's states around us. Yeah. Yeah. It's done compared to what Iowa has. Yeah. Yeah. And there are a lot of medications or drugs, let's call them drugs, that a lot of people aren't aware of that are floating around in the community as well. So again, knowledge is power, you know. Come to these meetings. Yes. Again, it's, you don't take up that much time. Right. It's, and you'll learn some things, maybe start a conversation with some others. Yeah. And if you want to see, like if you want to visually see what these drugs look like, we have, we have our own drug kit that is for youngers, but Diane Hinderacher often lets me use the drug box that they have at the probation office. So if you actually want to see what these look like, so you can start to identify them, we bring those drug boxes to the presentations as well. So yeah. So you're going to be busy. Yes. Always busy. All right. Any others coming up or right now? As you start looking at next year, I'm guessing we got, we've got to make it through holiday. Yeah. Yeah. So a couple of things that are on the back burner right now are we are working, we being me, is working with Iowa or Boone County Hospital Public Health as well as Erickson Public Library to do an event in November. It's in its early stages of planning. So I don't have a lot of details, but it will be on November. 10th. I do know that. And it is a family type event. So we have adult type things to do. We have kids type things to do. So we're going to be talking about lung cancer awareness month and also a new curriculum that we're trying to introduce for the littles. Yeah. So that's coming up. We also have a DMACC event coming up on November 7th. Is that a Saturday? Yeah. Okay. November 7th during a women's basketball game will be tabling me, CFR and Boone County Public Hospital or Public Health will be there as well. Talking again about National Lung Cancer Awareness Month and radon testing so on and so forth. Okay. Which is, and we know the county is doing the activated radon mitigation in new constructions. Yes. They've got one more reading on that ordinance to go. Yep. Yep. Those are just all some of the steps that are taken. Unfortunately, we have a high, we rank so high when it comes to cancer. And I think a lot of times people just start, just aren't aware of those numbers. And once they become aware of those numbers, they're like, okay, what can we do now? And one of the things is we can make that knowledge available. The other things that I can do through CFR is talk about smoke free homes. Okay. With property managers and, you know, people, people that live in those buildings who want it to be smoke free. They, how to do that with their property manager. Yeah. So there's all kinds of things that we got going on. Busy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. First, first one up really is going to be the event in Ames. Yep. Narcan one. Yep. Again, Ames Public Library. You can get yourself signed up there. Any questions, make contact at CFRhelps.org. Yep. Is it B? Yep. B, Tarot? Brenda T. Brenda T is what it is. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You didn't want to get people spelling your last name. My, um, Spells it a little tougher. Yeah. Well, yeah. But Brenda T. Yep. Brenda T. My colleague says Brenda. That's how she remembers. B-R-E-N-D-A-T. That's how it, Brenda. Brenda. Yeah. At CFRhelps.org. Yep. Absolutely. Yeah. So again, like to see, and people from Boone, welcome to come over for that one over and aimed. Yeah. Absolutely. We, we invite everybody, you know, um, we, we work in story in Boone County, but anybody can attend those. So, yeah. All right. Brenda Terrell, again, prevention specialist with, uh, community and family resources or CFRhelps. Not only can you check that. Absolutely. But, uh, thanks for being our guest. Yeah. Thanks for having me. We're, hope we get good turnout for some of these events that are coming up. Drug take back day is the 24th. Yep. So Saturday the 24th, and I know the Boone Police Department, I got it. It's like, it's not real long. It's like, 10 to 2. 10 to 2. Sorry, you're right. 10 to, I, I, yeah, 10 to 12. Yeah. That's right. Come by if you have, again, just check what's in your medicine cabinet. What's the, wherever you keep your medications. So what's outdated. Don't just throw them in the garbage. Not a good thing to do there. Landfill doesn't really care for that. But, uh, neither does the river. So then, uh, once again, they, they basically, I think they incinerate them. But, uh, so they take care of them. But, uh, so if you got it, uh, prescription bottle, cross your name off, tear the label off, whatever, if you need to do that. But otherwise, uh, check outdated over-the-counter medicine and get them properly disposed of. Yep. Absolutely. All right. Thanks so much for coming in. Yeah. Thanks for having me.