Lorain County Public Health is warning the public not to use drugs alone and to have Narcan on hand if they do use after local hospitals reported the third spike in drug overdoses in three weeks.
On Saturday, the health department received notification of a “drug anomaly” alert after there were 10 drug overdoses over the span of 24 hours, according to a health department media release.
Five females and five males overdosed on Saturday, the release said. That included people under 29 years old to those over 50.
This was the third spike this month, the health department said. On May 7, nine people overdosed and on May 1, eight people did.
The county’s first responders and the coroner’s office have also reported a “noticeable increase” in suspected overdoses, including a mass overdose event that involved four individuals over the weekend, the release said.
In a Facebook post, the health department urged people not to use drugs that are not from a pharmacy alone and to have Narcan, a drug that stops and reverses drug overdoses, with them. People who are using alone can call Never Use Alone at 1-800-484-3731.
The health department underscored in their release that there are resources available for people struggling with substance use disorder. They include the following:
- A non-emergency bilingual Navigator is available with treatment and other resource information at 440-240-7025
- Call the Crisis Hotline at 1-800-888-6161
- Get a Narcan rescue kit for free. These are available at the Lorain County Public Health Department at 9880 S. Murray Ridge Road, Elyria or at other pharmacies around the state. You can also have Narcan, the brand name of the drug Naloxone, mailed to you within three business days.
- Visit the Harm Reduction Clinic at The Nord Center, 3150 Clifton Avenue, Lorain to exchange needles, obtain fentanyl strips and more.
