Warning tonight from state police.
A more lethal strand of heroin,
stronger than before,
is apparently being distributed
right now in our region.
Police believe that that's the reason
they're seeing a spike in overdoses,
94 of them total region wide,
6 deaths in just 12 days.
Those stats are from the end of
January and then end of February.
And during that timeframe,
emergency workers or others
administered Narcan at least 57 times.
That's of course, the nose spray.
That can help reverse the
effects of an opioid overdose.
3 of the deaths that we mentioned
and 20 of the overdoses were in
the Southern Tier in those rural
areas that can take medical crews
longer to get to the scene.
And state police say that can contribute
to an overdose turning into a death.
Joining us live right now to
talk about this is Steve Kilburn.
He is the grant projects director
at the Chautauqua County Department
of Mental Health.
So we really appreciate you taking
some time to talk to us about this and
thankfully as we look through the numbers.
None of these overdose deaths
was in Chautauqua County,
but I wonder what you make of the
fact that this was happening in
counties that are adjacent to yours.
And just anytime we hear of of these trends,
even if it's not impacting you directly,
how do you kind of process that
and move forward with it?
Yes, well sadly, you know,
these sort of spikes are not unknown to us,
even though at the moment it does
seem like it may be affecting our
our neighbor counties more than us.
But, you know, we're always concerned
about the numbers of overdoses happening
and they're always too high on.
Unfortunately, what's become
kind of the norm would have not,
but a couple of years ago been considered
an extremely high number of overdoses.
So while we're not seeing a spike
in our county at the moment,
we are seeing a kind of chronically
high level of overdoses and sadly,
overdose deaths.
Yeah. And Steve, one of the alerts that
came from state police as as part of this.
You know, kind of news release put out
to the public really talked about how
it's different in terms of the response.
When you look at rural areas versus
urban areas and there are plenty of
rural parts of of Chautauqua County.
How does that impact how quickly
emergency crews are able to administer
Narcan or even get to someone who
may be experiencing an overdose?
And how does that kind of add to the
challenges there in Chautauqua County?
Yeah, sure. Like any rural county,
unquestionably, you know,
response time to any medical emergency,
which an overdose of course is is,
is critical. You know, minutes mean
the difference between life and death.
It's one of the reasons why we
really emphasize and and we believe
actually with some success have
seen the distribution of Narcan
into the hands of really anyone,
especially anyone who may.
Likely come encounter somebody
who has an opioid overdose.
And in point of fact here
in Chautauqua County,
we know that there are probably
hundreds of overdoses that are
reversed lives saved because
folks have Narcan and use it even
as they await the EMS response.
Yeah, we know how life saving
that has been over the years.
You mentioned to us before we, you know,
earlier today when we talked to you.
That while maybe you aren't seeing
this increase in in heroin use,
heroin overdoses and heroin deaths,
fentanyl remains a huge concern
there in Chautauqua County.
What is the latest on that in
terms of what you're seeing?
Yeah, absolutely. You know,
the spike, if we want to call it that,
is something that took place here as
it did across the state and really
across the nation beginning in 2021
when the numbers of overdose fatalities
reached really unprecedented levels.
And while we don't have all
our numbers for 2022, sadly,
we think it's going to be quite similar
to the previous year and if there is one
contributing element to the fatality rates.
It is the supply of illicit drugs,
and specifically the presence of fentanyl.
Fentanyl has initially come
kind of laced into heroin.
Fentanyl is itself an opioid,
although far more potent even than heroin.
But since the sort of initial introduction
of fentanyl into the illicit drug supply,
what's taken place is,
well, a couple of things.
One is it's come to be found
in drugs of all sorts.
So amphetamines,
methamphetamine, cocaine.
Sometimes with folks not even intending
to take an opioid are being exposed
to it and of course, you know,
with sometimes deadly consequences.
The other thing that's happening certainly
here and I don't want to speak for other.
Other communities.
But here in Chautauqua County,
heroin is frankly largely gone.
The drug is drugs,
are perhaps sold on the street as heroin,
but at least in terms of those folks
who sadly do die of a drug overdose.
Heroin is not showing up in
their toxicology reports.
It's fentanyl.
Yeah,
one reason for these overdoses and deaths,
it's fentanyl.
Steve, I'm out of time,
but if you can take 10 seconds here
before we go and you want people to
leave this conversation with some hope.
Lots of services available there
and and region wide. They're
absolutely are, even when we hear these.
And of course we can't talk about
addiction and overdoses without it
being sad and sometimes tragic news.
But we must also add that there is hope.
There are folks who do get in
treatment and successfully,
and we encourage people to reach
out to the many resources that every
community and every county is offering.
Steve Kilburn is a grant projects
director at the Chicago County
Department of Mental Hygiene.
Thanks for helping us better understand
this headline. We appreciate
it. Yeah. Thank you.