There are staggering numbers out of Manchester, New Hampshire, where drug overdoses are spiking at an alarming rate, according to first responders.
“We really are trying to do the best we can,” said Manchester Fire Chief Dan Goonan.
It was a slow, encouraging start to August with only 28 overdose calls by the middle of the month, but that changed last Saturday when something dropped in Manchester that caused an alarming spike.
“It hit us pretty hard,” Goonan said.
By Monday, first responders had administered Narcan to more than 95 patients in August — including more than 67 overdoses in just over a week.
The silver lining is that not one of the overdoses this month has been fatal. That means while the heroin circulating right now is stronger than usual, it’s not as potent as carfentanil, which hit the streets in a deadly way earlier this year.
“I think it’s the ups and downs of this crisis, but quite frankly, it scares me to think it could get worse,” Goonan said. “We’re not at the end of this battle by any means.”
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Goonan hopes this is a wake-up call for users and their loved ones.
If someone needs help, they can walk into any fire station in the city and ask for it.
