CHICAGO (CBS) — Public health officials in Chicago have sounded the alarm after a rise in infections drug overdoses the past weekend.
The concern and fear is that overdoses will continue to increase – as has happened in Chicago over the past summer months. A plan to combat the overdose crisis includes new strategies from the city and state.
This comes as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports an overall decline in opioid overdose deaths nationwide for the first time since 2019.
“We are seizing record amounts of fentanyl – both in powder and pill form – along with other illegal narcotics,” said Luis Agostini, public information officer for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Chicago Field Division.
Agostini credits not only the seizures, but also holistic approaches.
“That includes making tools like Narcan easily available and widely accessible – improving access to treatment and recovery,” he said.
For Chicago, 2021 was the highest on record, with more than 1,400 overdose deaths.
“We’re kind of stabilizing at an all-time high, but the fact that it’s not continuing to rise is reassuring,” says Dr. Jenny Hua, medical director of behavioral health at the Chicago Department of Public Health.
But some recent figures are not at all reassuring. On Saturday, May 11, there were 50 opioid-related EMS responses. From May 10 to May 15, there were a total of 242 opioid-related EMS reactions.
It is not known whether any of the patients who required these responses died, and if so, how many.
“It is not surprising to us at least that we see this peak at this time of year,” says Hua. “Could we have predicted this would happen last weekend? No.’
Similar peaks have occurred in June, July and August over the past three summers.
“Above 50 is when we raise a red alert – and that’s the threshold we crossed over a 24-hour period on Saturday. “But we continue to see a spike in overdoses in recent days, just not as high. And this remains an important public health issue that I’m glad we’re talking about.”
Not only are public health officials talking about the problem — they’re doing something about it, taking samples during the outbreak to provide better clinical guidance. And as summer begins, reversal medications and preventive substance abuse treatment are also priorities.
“Our most important task is to prevent overdoses before they happen,” Hua said.
Summer initiatives include Naloxone. The reversal drug is available for free at Chicago libraries and five city vending machines.
Test strips are also readily available, as is community education. A preventative treatment called the Medicated Assistance Recovery N Ow program is also available to Illinois residents over the age of 18.
