Ky. County Overdose Total Nears 230 with 31 Dead

Sept. 30—ASHLAND—A confirmed 31 overdose victims died in Boyd County through September—but at least 185 lived—amid the deadliest overdose crisis in Kentucky and U.S. history.

Boyd County paramedics rushed to nearly 230 overdose calls between Jan. 1 and Sept. 28 of 2017, according to now-retired Boyd EMS Director Tom Adams.

First responders are saving patients with Narcan, aka naloxone, aka the over-dose-reversing medicine that can pump life back into an otherwise-dead human being.

But Narcan doesn't guarantee survival. Sometimes 911 isn't dialed quickly enough. Even when it is, some patients have already consumed too many drugs by the time paramedics arrive. The brain is already fried and the organs are shut down by the time the Narcan hits.

Narcan isn't new to the region. Boyd EMS has kept it in stock for 25 years. But it's never been used as frequently as it is now by first responders, school districts and families of people afflicted by drug addiction.

EMS has already spent more than $20,000 on Narcan this fiscal year, and "we're going to spend more than $30,000 on Narcan this year, easily," said Adams.

Narcan is relatively cheap, especially compared to other life-saving drugs like the allergic-reaction-fighting EpiPen. Each shot of Narcan costs EMS $60 to $75 depending on the milligram count, Adams said.

But because of the ferocity of the heroin, fentanyl and other opioids on the streets, many overdose victims need more than dose of Narcan to survive.

That's why the ratio of overdoses to Narcan purchases appears disproportionate, Adams said. Boyd County paramedics have administered as many as six doses of Narcan units to a single overdose victim to yank him or her back from the brink.

Boyd County EMS is a special taxing district. It draws its funding from property taxes and patient service income. That revenue is used in part to pay for medical supplies. The medicine is mostly used to treat breathing problems and allergic reactions in addition to overdoses.

Previously, Narcan had a small shelf in the Boyd County EMS medicine cabinet. The agency spent $1,400 on Narcan in 2013.

Now the bulk of the $45,000 Boyd County EMS medicine budget funds the overdose reverser.

The staff keeps about 30 doses of Narcan on hand at a time in case of an outbreak—like the one that struck Boyd County during July 4 weekend.

Fourteen overdoses were reported in 24 hours. Law enforcement officials cited a lethal batch of heroin circulating in the community as the chief cause of the overdose eruption.

At one point, all four EMS ambulances were dispatched simultaneously. Only one of the overdose patients perished as a result of the work of first responders—including fire and police.

Adams said assuming an explosive string of overdose calls is about to strike is now the norm among the EMS staff.

"We'll go a day or week and not do any, then go out for three or four in one day," he said.

The former EMS director retired on Friday after 38 years as a paramedic in Boyd County.

He's worked during years when more died of an overdose than are dying now. In 2011, 42 were confirmed dead via overdose in Boyd County, according to the coroner's office.

But he's never seen this many total overdoses in a single year in his lifetime. "We weren't seeing as many total overdoses (in 2011). What we were seeing then were mostly suicides or people accidentally taking too much of their medicine.

"Now, the total number of overdoses is three times what we used to see," said Adams.

And first responders can no longer anticipate which demographic an overdose victim falls into before arriving on scene. "The faces of overdoses have changed," Adams said.

Drug addiction knows no age, gender, race or salary range, especially amid an epidemic crippling the Tri-State region and the nation.

Boyd County already eclipsed its 2016 overdose death count of 30 with three months left in the year. A toxicology report received Tuesday confirmed the 31st overdose death, Boyd Coroner Mark Hammond said.

Boyd had the highest overdose death count in eastern Kentucky and the fifth highest in the state last year—despite its population of 48,000 being only the 16th highest in the state.