W VA Huntington More than 2 dozen overdoses hit W Virginia city, 1 death reported

[GeeEm]

August 18, 2016


More than 2 dozen overdoses hit West Virginia city, 1 death reported


Officials in a West Virginia city are warning people about an especially dangerous batch of heroin after authorities responded to 26 overdoses in within a four-hour span.

The rash of overdoses came Monday in the city of Huntington, which sits in Cabell County along the Ohio River in the western part of the state. Gordon Merry, the county's EMS director, said at a news conference Tuesday that the heroin the users had taken was laced with a strong substance, but authorities aren't sure what it is.

Many of the overdoses were in an area surrounding one apartment complex in the city, he said, leading officials to believe the cases were connected. He said the amount of calls that were received overwhelmed responders.

"Just to give you an idea, when the first few came in, three ambulances were already out dealing with overdoses," Merry said.



http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/08/1...-hit-west-virginia-city-1-death-reported.html

 

[1&2&3]

In my area down South, the end of June we were hit with a similar problem, however, not to this degree of seriousness.
I am quoting from the local television station what they said about it. It is probably what is going on in Huntington.

"Albright explained, "There is a likelihood that it's being mixed with something called [a synthetic opioid] Acetyl fentanyl... it is anticipated that it has a potency of greater than 40 times that of heroin."

They say users are playing "Russian roulette" every time they inject or ingest heroin. While some people snort the drug, most are using needles. They said an overdose can happen within seconds, and officers told FOX8 the needle is often still in a person's body when they arrive at a scene."
http://myfox8.com/2014/05/16/seven-heroin-overdoses-in-guilford-co-over-past-24-hours/

A neighbor had college age nephews visiting. They unknowingly got hold of this stuff. As the article states, the boys were found with the needle in one victims arm, both passed out. One made it, one did not. The one who made it is charged with felony murder. Thie above news was on in the morning and the incident happened the same evening. Such a tragedy, two young lives lost too early all for a fun evening!

 

[GeeEm]

August 23, 2016

W. Va. city swamped by overdoses, as nation battles surging opioid epidemic

The heroin epidemic that has plagued the nation’s urban and rural communities alike had not spared West Virginia, but nothing prepared Cabell County officials for 26 overdoses in a four-hour span last week.

The wave of misery was focused in a Huntington public housing complex, where victims injected from a batch of the drug believed to have been laced with Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid up to 100 times more potent than morphine. Investigators believe two fatalities that occurred during the same time period could be related.

“We have never seen anything like this before to this magnitude,” said Gordon Merry, Emergency Management Service director for Cabell County.

It was the latest cluster of overdoses to take place in communities ranging from gritty cities to rural farmlands. Overdoses involving heroin and synthetic drugs like “spice” left two dozen hospitalized earlier this month in Ohio; killed two and sickened 16 two months ago in New Haven, Conn.; and hospitalized 33 last month in Brooklyn.



http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/08/2...s-nation-battles-surging-opioid-epidemic.html

 

[GeeEm]

In my area down South, the end of June we were hit with a similar problem, however, not to this degree of seriousness.
I am quoting from the local television station what they said about it. It is probably what is going on in Huntington.

"Albright explained, "There is a likelihood that it's being mixed with something called [a synthetic opioid] Acetyl fentanyl... it is anticipated that it has a potency of greater than 40 times that of heroin."

They say users are playing "Russian roulette" every time they inject or ingest heroin. While some people snort the drug, most are using needles. They said an overdose can happen within seconds, and officers told FOX8 the needle is often still in a person's body when they arrive at a scene."
http://myfox8.com/2014/05/16/seven-heroin-overdoses-in-guilford-co-over-past-24-hours/

A neighbor had college age nephews visiting. They unknowingly got hold of this stuff. As the article states, the boys were found with the needle in one victims arm, both passed out. One made it, one did not. The one who made it is charged with felony murder. Thie above news was on in the morning and the incident happened the same evening. Such a tragedy, two young lives lost too early all for a fun evening!

Hi 1&2&3 🙂

Honestly, I think the drug(s) can be found just about any street corner if one was looking for some.

Drugs are everywhere!!! 😡😡😡

jmo 🐮

 

[0101ABA]

How the heroin epidemic choked a city: Four hours in Huntington, W.Va.

He found the woman slumped over the steering wheel, an empty syringe on the floorboard and her skin dulling to a purplish blue.

Dave McClure, an EMS supervisor, counted four faint breaths per minute. Without the antidote he carried, she’d be dead in five minutes.

It was 3:25 p.m. on what was, so far, an ordinary Monday. For an EMT in this struggling city, bringing an addict back from the brink of opiate-fueled death counts as routine.