FLORENCE, Ky. — Health agencies and harm reduction teams are working to respond after the Northern Kentucky Health Department reported three suspected overdose deaths in just one weekend.
The health department first reported a total of six overdoses, including three fatalities. A spokesperson informed us Tuesday the number has increased to four non-fatal overdoses, bringing the total to seven since May 17.
Seth Steele, NKYHD's Harm Reduction Program supervisor, told us it's too early to determine what caused these suspected overdoses since a toxicology report isn't available yet.
"But it's typically attributed to a bad batch; maybe something is in the drug supply that the person who was using isn't used to," Steele said.
Steele said the overdoses weren't isolated to one location in Northern Kentucky; instead, the incidents were scattered across Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties.
WATCH: How health agencies are finding solutions for those struggling with substance use disorders
Steele showed us all the different harm reduction tools his teams distribute in the community, including Narcan, fentanyl testing strips and QR codes linking people to online resources.
NKYHD has a Syringe Access Exchange Program that stops in Campbell County on Tuesdays, Grant County on Wednesdays and Kenton County on Thursdays. It delivers tools to help with substance abuse, sexually transmitted diseases and overall health.
“Pretty much every day at syringe exchange, we ask individuals who are in active use if they’ve saved somebody’s life from using Narcan on them in the past 30 days," Steele said.
Within the past month, Steele said they've gotten around 17 yeses.
Another agency helping those struggling with substance use disorder is the Northern Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy.
People in need can contact the agency's addiction helpline by calling (859) 415-9280.
“You can give us a call and we will absolutely network you to where you need to go," said Julie Hellmann, who works as a regional resource specialist for NKODCP.
WCPO 9 continues to highlight the work of local advocates and experts working to help those struggling with substance abuse and recovery. Steele told us substance use disorder affects all walks of life, but solutions can also be found anywhere.
"We've heard countless stories of people that we've worked with, where they overdosed a couple of times. So it wasn't the first time, and then they went to treatment, but they maybe overdosed three, four, five times, and then they entered treatment. And then, you know, they start to work at the health department or they work at a treatment facility; we just don't know where their lives take them. So keeping people alive as long as possible so they can make that decision and basically stay as safe as possible is key," Steele said.
You can read more of WCPO 9's work to find and highlight solutions here.
