ROCKINGHAM — Drug overdoses continue to rise in Richmond County, with nearly as many patients being treated and more naloxone being administered so far this year than last.
According to statistics from the Richmond County Drug Endangered Family Task Force, 193 patients were administered naloxone from January-August — just three shy of the 196 treated in 2022.
(Disclosure: This writer is a media representative, non-voting member of the task force.)
The only month with fewer patients than the previous year was February. There were only nine treated this year, compared to 10 last year. March remained consistent with 17. Every other month has seen an increase.
The largest comparative percentage jump was in the month of January, which increased fourfold from five to 20.
The highest number of patients were in July and August, with 35 and 38, respectively — higher than the 21 from each month the year before. The month of October saw the most patients in 2022 with 26.
With the hike in the number of patients comes an escalation in the amount of naloxone used.
Records show 763 mg of the opioid antagonist were administered in the first eight months — compared to 712.9 mg in all 12 months of 2022.
Four of the eight months have each seen more than 100 mg administered: April (130 mg); May (106 mg); June (120 mg); and August (116 mg). In 2022, only October and November topped the 100 mg mark.
Each month also saw multiple dosages being administered to the same patients:
- January – 11
- February – 1
- March – 4
- April – 8
- May – 6
- June – 10
- July – 2
- August – 3
In 2021, only 168.5 mg was administered to 26 patients.
It should be noted that these numbers are reported from first-responder agencies and do not include doses administered by families or individuals on the streets.
In July, the Richmond County Board of Commissioners approved $58,000 of the local allocation of the opioid settlement for the purchase of naloxone to be made available to the volunteer rescue squads, law enforcement, Child Protective Services and Adult Protective Services.
Click here to read more about the naloxone purchase.
According to a report from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Richmond County had the highest rate of fentanyl-positive deaths in 2022 among the state’s 100 counties — 34 at a rate of 76.7 per 100,000, which is more than twice the statewide rate of 30.1. There were 3,188 such deaths across North Carolina.
(Note: The N.C. Opioid Dashboard shows 31 drug overdose deaths for 2022 and 38 for 2021.)
The first six months of the year saw 112 emergency department visits for overdose involving medications or drugs with dependency potential in the county, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
Click here to read more on the overdose rates and figures.
