NORTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation tells Channel 2 Action News that overdose deaths related to heroin have doubled each year for the past three years in counties outside the Atlanta metropolitan area.
From 2014 to 2015, the most recent statistics available, overdose deaths rose from 61 to 134.
“It wasn’t a number that was significant in terms of the entire state, but when you look at that doubling in one year, that’s shocking,” GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles said. %
%
Large metro Atlanta counties separately reported hundreds of heroin overdose deaths in the past three years. Fulton County ranks among the highest with 104 overdose deaths last year.
The city of Johns Creek in North Fulton County provides training and equipment to all police officers and other first responders to administer an opiate antidote. The shot is given through an auto injector and can quickly pull someone back from the brink of death. Police say three people have been saved by the antidote in recent months.
“We think it’s extremely important because time is of the essence in these types of calls. Once you get the overdose call, the clock is ticking. And if you can get there and administer the drug, you have a greater chance for success,“ Johns Creek police Capt. Chris Byers said.
The GBI says the most dangerous street drug now in fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opiate that can kill someone in micro doses. Law enforcement officers are also at risk of being exposed to it.
“This particular drug is transdermal. If it gets into your skin, (it gets into) your bloodstream. Even as a scientist, in the lab testing it, we have to take necessary precautions,” Miles said.
The Bartow-Cartersville Drug Task Force recently seized 40 kilos of fentanyl following a traffic stop on I-75.
Cox Media Group
