MORGANTOWN, W.Va. Overdose spike alerts have been issued throughout the spring across northern West Virginia as suspected batches of bad drugs make their way through communities. On WAJR’s “Talk of the Town,” Monongalia County Health Department Quick Response Team (QRT) Coordinator Joe Klass said when overdoses spike in larger cities in Ohio, it usually means that a batch of drugs will begin to arrive here in about 96 hours.
“Using this predictive model, if you know there’s an increase in overdoses in one area, you can prepare the next area downstream to get ready for some potentially very potent substances,” Klass said.
Overdoses are now being reported at a higher rate due to the proliferation of fentanyl and its synthetic cousins. The substances are used to cut bulk drugs like heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine that are consumed by the user. But when the substances are used to create convincing counterfeits of drugs like Adderall and Zanax, they become an insidious killer for an unsuspecting drug user.
“We know fentanyl is being put in various substances, and we know it is causing overdoses and overdose deaths,” Klass said.
Klass said there have been two deaths in the county in recent weeks that are being investigated as potential overdoses. Confirming an overdose death is a time-consuming process that does not always provide a definite answer.
The May report from the Monongalia County QRT Team totals 68 EMS reports of possible overdoses and nearly 600 interactions with peer recovery specialists and people seeking help.
“We definitely didn’t have five, six, or seven overdose fatalities in the last year, but one is too many,” Kalss said.
Klass said in addition to spike alerts, the Monongalia County Health Department offers free Narcan and training for the community at large. Residents should consider getting familiar with Narcan and how to use it in addition to learning CPR and other life-saving measures.
“Naloxone, brand name Narcan, can get someone breathing again after they’ve suffered from an opioid overdose,” Klass said. “It’s an extremely safe medication, very easy to administer, and very abundant.”
In the month of May, the QRT distributed more than 300 free two-dose kits of Naloxone to the public and provided nearly 200 free training sessions to members of the public.
“Our county has done a very good job of raising awareness about increasing Naloxone distribution and Naloxone training,” Klass said. “We’re still in the fight—we have not won the fight, but we’re not retreating either.”