N.H. First Responders Revive 42 Overdose Victims This Week

Aug. 26—First responders have revived at least 42 overdose victims in the city over the past week, signaling that a stronger drug has hit the streets.

According to the Manchester Fire Department, there have been a total of 535 overdoses/calls for service in 2017.

Chris Hickey, EMS officer at the Manchester Fire Department, said the "disastrous" spike in overdoses began around 3 p.m. last Saturday and still had not let up by Friday afternoon.

Just a week earlier, Hickey had been cautiously optimistic when the number of overdoses in the city stood at 28 for August, a significant drop from earlier months. Then, he said, "Something hit the streets that hit the users hard."

As of Friday afternoon, the city has seen 71 overdoses, two of them fatal, in the month of August alone. That compares with 74 overdoses, two fatal, in July, and 48, including eight fatalities, in August of 2016.

The total number of overdose calls in the city for 2017 stands at 536 as of Friday; there have been 42 fatalities, according to fire department statistics.

Hickey said he doesn't believe the past week's spike indicates a return of the deadly synthetic opioid carfentanil, since first responders are not needing to use higher doses of Narcan, the overdose reversal drug, to revive victims.

"When we had carfentanil, simply because of its strength, we were giving 6, 8, 10 milligrams of Narcan routinely, but with this, we're rarely going above one or two doses (of 2 mg. each)," he said.

Chris Stawasz, regional director of American Medical Response, which provides ambulance service in Manchester, said he's proud of how the city's fire, EMS and police personnel have responded to the ongoing opioid epidemic. "Without a beat, they meet every challenge every time," he said in an email.

Last year, Manchester Fire Department created Safe Station, an innovative program to address the epidemic that has since been replicated in other communities. Those battling addiction -- now called "substance use disorder" -- can walk into any fire station and get help in finding treatment and recovery services.

A total of 1,525 individuals have requested help through Manchester's program since May, 2016, according to the fire department. And 354 were repeat participants.

They range in age from 18 to 70. The majority went to Central Station, but all 10 fire stations have helped participants seek services.

Hickey said he no longer allows himself to believe that the city is making headway against the epidemic when the number of overdoses drops. They always seem to go up again, as they did this past week, he said.

"We have peaks and valleys, and this one just happened to be an Everest in the middle of the Grand Canyon," he said.

Hickey does find some hope in the demographics, however. Teenagers account for the age group with the lowest number of overdoses; the highest numbers are among those in their 20s and 30s.

"That means that the education is happening in schools and kids are listening," he said.

"But there's an entire generation that we're going to lose," Hickey said. "We're fighting a losing battle."

Public Safety Health General News Manchester

The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester