Lexington-Fayette County Health Department reports spike in overdoses
The health department is reporting an unusually high number of non-fatal drug overdoses. Now these cases are just the ones reported by EMS.
Lexington, Ky (WTVQ): The Health Department is reporting an unusually high number of non-fatal drug overdoses, as reported by EMS.
John Moses, the team leader for the Harm Reduction Services in the Health Department, says “the last time that we had an alert like this was in February of 2023, and that alert was generated because there was six in the same day.”
Moses says they have a detection mapping system that provides an alert when there is an unusual increase in overdoses, particularly non-fatal suspected overdoses. From January 4th to the 7th, in just four days there’s reported 29 overdoses while the week prior, had 17 overdoses for the whole week.
Moses says drug overdoses can impact anyone. “It’s not people behind a dumpster. It’s not people living outside all the time. It’s not who you may think. It’s people all across the board of all races, all classes, all economic situations.”
He stresses the importance of folks carrying Narcan that can reverse an opioid overdose. “Fentanyl has gotten into the mix of the drug supply here in Lexington. We see that, that has been causing a lot of overdoses,” Moses said. He says only about 30 to 40 % of people call 911 when there’s an overdose.
Destiny Oakley, the Assistant Director of Development for the Hope Center, says “and really help them not just address the addiction, not just address the substance their using. But really dig deeper to try to address some of the traumas and root causes that brought them to this place,” The Hope Center serves more than 200 people from across Kentucky. It offers long -term residential recovery programs as well as intensive outpatient programs.
The Hope Center says it will open a residential treatment program in the summer. If you or someone you know needs help with substance abuse disorder, you can visit https://findhelpnowky.org/ky.
