GREAT FALLS — According to the Cascade City-County Health Department in Great Falls, more than 150 opioid overdoses have occurred statewide so far this year.
"We have been seeing a pretty good increase in the amount of fatal and non-fatal opioid related overdoses in Montana," said CCHD Emergency Planner Colin Campbell. He said, "Looking at the numbers from February 28th to March 1st, there was a six overdose increase and a one fatal overdose increase just in 12 hours."
Deaths attributed to opioids rose from around 70,000 in 2020 to 80,800 in 2021, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Fentanyl is implicated in the majority of these deaths.
Jeremy Virts is the Deputy Chief of EMS for Great Falls Fire Rescue. He said based on their data from 2022, they've administered Narcan 34 times.
"That's a range of calls from an actual overdose or in a cardiac arrest situation where we're trying to rule out reasons why they're in cardiac arrest, and a narcotic overdose is one of those," he said. "Prophylactically, we'll give the medicine to see if it works. If it works, we narrow it down to a possible narcotic overdose. If it doesn't work, we go on to the next check and balance."
Last month, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel voted to make Narcan available over the counter. However, the FDA will consider that recommendation late this month.
The most common ways Narcan is administered is by intranasal spray or intravenous injection.
Virts said you can't overdose on Narcan, adding that it will not harm someone if they are not overdosing on an opioid.
For further information on the uses of Narcan, visit here: https://www.narcan.com/
Last month, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel voted to make Narcan available over the counter. However, the FDA will consider that recommendation late this month.
The most common ways Narcan is administered is by intranasal spray or intravenous injection.
Virts said you can't overdose on Narcan, adding that it will not harm someone if they are not overdosing on an opioid.
As opioid overdoses are becoming an increasing concern, Campbell said lowering those numbers all starts with education.
Campbell said, "we can also educate our current addicted population on the benefits of seeking assistance on substance abuse, counseling, getting treatments, and having Narcan on hand. The mental health side is the big kicker. If we can treat the mental health side, we can fix a lot of the opioid addictions that we are seeing."
Questions or comments about this story? Contact Cade by clicking here.
TRENDING
- 'Go back' - notes tell people to leave Montana
- Suspect crashes while leading police on chase
- Will Montana ban TikTok?
- Bear chasing you? Don't push your friend down
- Recent obituaries on KRTV
FOLLOW KRTV: TikTok | Instagram | Twitter
