Thomas Breen photo
City Health Director Maritza Bond on Saturday.
(Updated)—New Haven County saw 21 overdoses in 24 hours between Friday and Saturday, including up to 12 overdoses in the city proper.
The likely culprit: heroin laced with fentanyl.
City Health Director Maritza Bond gave an update on that sudden surge in overdoses Saturday afternoon outside the city Health Department’s offices at 54 Meadow St.
Following up on an email press release sent out earlier in the day by the city spokesperson, Bond confirmed that her office received notifications about 21 overdoses taking place throughout the Greater New Haven region during the 24-hour stretch ending Saturday at 6:30 a.m.
She said between 10 and 12 of those overdoses took place in the city itself, with most of the city’s incidents happening in the Fair Haven neighborhood.
Bond said she believes these overdoses have been caused by people injecting and snorting heroin laced with fentanyl, a potent synthetic pain reliever often associated with opioid overdoses.
“We are thankful that there are no fatalities currently,” Bond said. “We want to increase awareness of preventative measures” to make sure that that fatality number stays at zero during this current spike. (See below for a list of resources and recommendations put out by the city for people who struggle with substance use disorders.)
Bond said that her office cobbles together overdose data from a variety of sources, including a federal ODMAP system that the city subscribes to, as well as emergency response data provided to the department by local police, firefighters, and American Medical Response (AMR) paramedics.
“One of the things that we’re seeing here in New Haven and across the state is that there’s no standardized way of collecting data,” she said. “Sometimes there’s duplication of reporting.” Thus the estimate of 10 to 12 city overdoses among the region-wide 21 overdose number.
Bond said her department plans on putting together a dashboard of local overdose data, much like it has done with local Covid-19 data, so that it can better track incidents as they occur and target educational campaigns and outreach to hotspot areas.
This most recent spike is not a “cluster” in any one particular street or intersection, she said, but is rather spread out across the Fair Haven neighborhood.
Bond urged people who use opioids or know others who use opioids to make sure they have naloxone on them, and to call 911 if they or someone they know has overdosed. “We want to ensure there is no judgment here,” she said.
Saturday morning’s email press release from the city included the following recommendations for those who are struggling with a substance use disorder or who know someone in such a condition:
• Do not use drugs alone
• Do not share injection equipment. You can get clean injection supplies by visiting the Community Health Care Van. You can call them at 203 – 823-0743. You can also buy up to 10 syringes, without a prescription, from your local pharmacy
• Have Narcan with you. Narcan can reverse an opioid overdose. You can get Narcan at a local pharmacy without a prescription. Most insurance providers, including HUSKY, cover the cost of Narcan.
• Get treatment. To learn more about treatment options or to find a treatment provider, visit: https://portal.ct.gov/DMHAS/Programs-and-Services/Opioid-Treatment/Medication-Assisted-Treatment
This isn’t the first summer to see a wave of overdoses in a short period of time in and around New Haven. In August 2018, the city saw over 100 synthetic-cannabinoid poisonings — and no deaths — on the Green in a several day stretch thanks to a bad batch of K2.
Can't blame this on COVID. Remember the 100+ overdoses on the NH Green? No COVID around then. This is just another hot, summer day in the life of New Haven. Sad but no surprise.