6 MORE ODS
12 DAYS IN JUNE: U.D. COPS ANSWER 35 CALLS FOR OVERDOSES; 2 FATALITES
UPPER DARBY » In the wake of the slew of opiate overdoses plaguing the township, June has been particularly beastly, with a total of 35 victims in a dozen days and counting.
All of those calls - pleas for help in the war against heroin and opioid overdoses - were logged between June 1 and June 12, as township officers, first responders and even some civilians rushed to respond and administer the life-saving Narcan antidote. In all but two instances, the overdose victims were revived. Two people did succumb to the deadly drug.
“Over the first 12 days of June, the Upper Darby Police Department has responded to a rash of opiate-related overdose calls through the 911 system,” Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said. “And they keep on coming. We had two more ODs today (June 13), one in the 69th Street Terminal and another on Manor Road in Drexel Hill – both saved with Narcan.
“Narcan has been administered by civilians, police officers and paramedics during the time frame. One mother gave Narcan to her son before calling 911.
“This is the worst I’ve seen and it’s just a snapshot of how bad the problem is. This epidemic is destroying families and friendships. It’s a destructive epidemic impacting the entire United States. This is the highest record for us in 12 days. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
According to Chitwood, police responded to a total of 32 calls to treat 35 opioid overdoses.
“Two of the 35 victims we encountered did not survive,” Chitwood said. “On three occasions, Narcan was provided by citizens who were cognizant of the victim’s addiction. Police administered Narcan on 17 occasions prior to the arrival of EMS (Emergency Medical Service). EMS gave additional Narcan to some of the people already treated by police officers and managed the remainder of the patients on
their own.”
Ages of victims in the first 12 days of June range from 21 to 65 with the majority, 13, in the 21 to 29 age range.
The first of the 30-plus calls came in at 9 a.m. June 1 from a residence in the 200 block of Parker Avenue in the Kirklyn section of the township. The 35-yearold woman OD’d on Suboxone and was found unconscious. Paramedics administered Narcan and saved her life.
“One guy was revived 2 a.m. June 10 in a bathroom in the 69th Street Terminal and again at 9 a.m. the same day inside a house on Golf Road,” Chitwood said
of the 33-year-old.
The two deaths reported included a 59-year-old man who was administered Narcan 3:30 p.m. on the 400 block of Penn Avenue, Drexel Hill, and a 45-yearold man who could not be saved 10:45 p.m. June 11 on State Road.
On three incidents two people were in need of the life-saving Narcan including a couple, ages 31 and 32, who were saved when their toddlers called for help 8 p.m. June 7 on the 7000 block of Greenwood Avenue; two men, ages 29 and 37, who were revived by police and EMS responding 9:30 p.m. June 11 to the first block of Keystone Avenue and another couple, ages 43 and 45, suffering from an overdose 10:45 p.m. June 11 on the first block of North State Road. The man,
45, could not be saved and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Two incidents occurred while the victims were operating a vehicle, jeopardizing the safety of others including a 35-year-old man who crashed 7 p.m. June 1 at Third Street and Baltimore Avenue and a 25-yearold man involved in a headon collision 4:30 p.m. June 12 on State Road at Sellers Avenue.
The last one during the first dozen days registered at 11:55 p.m. June 12 on Bridge Street, in the Drexel Hill section, for a man down on the highway.
“That guy, a 30-year-old, just got out of rehab,” Chitwood said.
The police chief announced his department will continue to administer Narcan after receiving the
911 call even though manpower resources of not only police but EMS and the hospitals will be strained from the numerous calls.
“Some of these people have been using heroin for years and now they’re ODing,” Chitwood said. “Preliminarily it looks like they are taking a combination of heroin and fentanyl and that’s what they are OD-ing on. It’s the power of the two drugs. Some of the packaging bags we’ve recovered have been stamped ‘bulldog.’
“It’s tragic and it’s out of control. We do question individuals to try to find out who they got the dope from because these dealers have to go to prison. What these dealers are doing is selling death. It’s a sad thing. They could be getting rat poison in a bag and not even know
it until it’s too late.” Delaware County officials continue to monitor the heroin epidemic.
While District Attorney Jack Whelan was not available Tuesday, County Councilman Dave White said the heroin epidemic is an ongoing problem that has gripped the county and needs to be addressed head-on.
“We’ve developed some great partnerships over the past years and we are going to continue this fight against the heroin abuse, the fentanyl abuse, until we win this war,” said White, a member of the Delaware County Heroin Task Force.
White noted many heroin users begin the path to addiction at a young age using prescriptions found in relatives’ medicine cabinets. He urged county residents to clean out any old and unused
medications, which can be safely disposed of at secure drop boxes at police stations and other locations throughout the county.
“We are going to double our efforts and resources in marketing and getting that effort out, to make sure people understand how dangerous this is, make sure people understand that they need to get these medications out of there and make people understand that we cannot hide our heads in the sand,” said White. “We need to understand the stigma against this no longer exists. This affects everyone across the board, it doesn’t matter if they’re rich or poor, educated or uneducated, male or female – it affects everyone.”