ROCKINGHAM — Richmond County first responders have been called to more than 140 drug overdoses in the past four months.
According to Emergency Services Director Bob Smith, there were 141 overdoses from Sept. 1, 2023 to Jan. 20, 2024.
In that time period, there were 45 patients treated for overdose in EMS runs — 18 in December alone — according to a representative of FirstHealth of the Carolinas. One of those overdoses, in December, was fatal.
Smith said the county figure included the FirstHealth numbers, as individuals treated more than once.
Smith did not have any statistics on naloxone usage, and figures on usage posted by the Richmond County Drug Endangered Family task force have not been updated since August.
(Disclosure: This writer is a media representative, non-voting member of the task force.)
In the first eight months of 2023, 193 patients were administered naloxone. That number was just three people shy of the total for 2022.
During that same time period, more naloxone had been administered than the previous year.
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In July 2023, the Richmond County Board of Commissioners voted to allocate $58,000 to supply law enforcement and rescue squads with naloxone. Funding for that purchase came from the county’s portion of a national opioid settlement.
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That cache also includes community distribution.
Tommy Jarrell, special projects coordinator, and Social Services Director Robby Hall said during the January DEFT meeting that a medical director for the volunteer fire departments will not allow those departments to accept naloxone.
Records from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, released Dec. 21, show that Richmond County is among the counties with the highest fentanyl-involved death rates in the state.
In the period from October 2022-September 2023, there were 36 fentanyl-involved deaths, for a rate of 79.5 — the second-highest in the state behind Swain County, which had 12 deaths with a rate of 85.9.
During that same time period, there had been 3,392 statewide, with 249 in September. Of those, only 14% were only fentanyl. Records show that 39% of those who died also had cocaine in their system and 36% had also taken methamphetamine.
For the month of November, there were 324 suspected overdose deaths in North Carolina, down from 350 in November 2022.
More than half the fatal overdoses in Richmond County since 2019 have been labeled as fentanyl-involved, according to the Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina, which cites state records.
Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina and Darren’s Voice will host a networking event for families from 2-4 p.m. Feb. 24 at the Beaverdam Community Center, 945 Ledbetter Road, Rockingham.
