Austin opioid overdose outbreak: ATCEMS responds to 75 calls in three days
AUSTIN, Texas - Austin’s surge in opioid overdoses continued Wednesday, though officials with Austin-Travis County EMS say the outbreak appears to be slowing down.
ATCEMS held a media briefing Wednesday evening, where they released some updated numbers. Since Monday, April 29, medics have responded to 75 opioid overdose calls in Austin and Travis County. According to the medical examiner, eight deaths are suspected to be opioid-related.
EMS officials say it is likely that fentanyl is the culprit, though that hasn’t been confirmed. The overdoses were initially concentrated in downtown, but they’ve since spread elsewhere, especially the East Riverside/ Oltorf area.
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In just 48 hours, the city has handed out more than 400 doses of Narcan, and that does appear to be working. There were only seven overdose calls as of 6 p.m. Wednesday, compared to 37 on Monday.
"We haven't seen a spike in overdoses of any kind like this since we dealt with K2 in 2015. I cannot think of a time where we had this amount of opiate overdoses in such a short time," said ATCEMS Capt. Christa Stedman. "These people are not necessarily attempting to take an opiate. Whatever is doing this is making its way into everything."
"Everyone should familiarize themselves with the signs and symptoms of an overdose and be prepared to call nine on one immediately if they see somebody, experiencing those symptoms," said ATCEMS Deputy Chief Medical Director Heidi Abraham.
ATCEMS stresses this outbreak is not just impacting homeless people, and it is cutting across all age and racial groups.
So far, Austin police have detained two people in connection with the surge in overdoses. If you have any information, call Austin Police.