5 dead in outbreak of opioid ODs

NORWALK — An outbreak of overdose deaths in the city over a sixday span has put the spotlight on some of the issues state and local officials are facing in the fight against the opioid epidemic.

Police said they’ve responded to eight opioid overdose emergencies — five of them were fatal — since Aug. 28.

Police believe the deaths are opioid related, but the medical examiner is still investigating. Norwalk police spokesman Lt. Terry Blake said the incidents are still under investigation and he declined to provide more details.

“We want to remind the public of the dangers of opioid abuse,” Blake said. “Opioid overdose is often characterized by a decrease in breathing rate, which if not quickly addressed, leads to death. This a true medical emergency and 911 should be your first call.”

On Thursday, Norwalk police and EMS services could not provide realtime numbers for overdose deaths in the city this year, but the latest deaths bring the total to at least 13 in 2019 — which matches the number of overdose deaths in 2018.

“We’ve definitely seen a spike in opiate overdoses recently,” said Jim Brubaker, EMS clinical coordinator for Norwalk Hospital.

Brubaker said a new initiative, the Connecticut Statewide Opioid Reporting Directive (SWORD), was designed to deal with small cluster outbreaks like the recent one afflicting Norwalk. But, so far, its effects have yet to been seen.

“We don’t really know who we are even supposed to contact up at SWORD to try and get that information,” Brubaker said.

On the frontlines of the epidemic, first responders — paramedics, police and firefighters — are all armed with Narcan, an overdose reversal drug. But their fight against the opioid epidemic ends once they respond to the overdose calls.

Theresa Argondezzi, health educator at the Norwalk Health Department, said the department has been closely monitoring the most recent uptick in overdoses. The department has been working with community partners such as the Human Services Council to address Norwalk substance abuse issues.

“Our work focuses on educating the public about proper medication disposal (through disposal bags available at the health department, the drug dropoff box at the police department, and other methods), coordinating Narcan trainings for city employees and partners, connecting the public to other available community resources, and other outreach efforts,” Argondezzi said.

Despite their efforts, and those of other health departments around the state, overdose numbers continue to rise.

A report last month from the state’s chief medical examiner showed Connecticut is on pace this year for the most drugrelated deaths in state history. Over the first six months of 2019, 544 people died from overdoses. At this pace, it is estimated that 1,088 overdose deaths are expected.

That is 70plus more deaths than last year and exactly 50 more than 2017’s record of 1,038. More than 94 percent of these deaths, according to the medical examiner, are related to opioids — fentanyl, in particular.

“Fentanyl continues to be the most common drug detected (in over 75 percent of all accidental drug intoxication deaths),” State Medical Examiner Dr. James Gill said in an email summarizing the state’s findings. “Deaths involving cocaine also continue to increase.”

On Wednesday, Gov. Ned Lamont announced the state will receive $17 million in federal funding to track overdoses and expand access to treatment.