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Ten overdoses, three deaths occur in Polk County over two weeks

 

POLK COUNTY––In the past couple of weeks, Polk County response teams have responded to 10 drug overdose scenes, and 3 people have died as the result of some overdoses.

Mike Crater, Polk County EMS director, says that local EMS typically responds to an average of one or two overdose calls a month, and rarely do they involve a fatality.

He says that the overdose victims were people in their 20s and 30s.

Polk County Sheriff’s Office is currently working with surrounding counties in North Carolina and South Carolina to investigate the three deaths that occurred due to an overdose of narcotics. Officials at the Sheriff’s Office say that the narcotics used in the three deaths were possibly laced with Fentanyl, which can cause immediate death.

First responders went to several calls where they had to use NARCAN (nalonxon HCI), a medication that can help reverse the effects of an opioid overdose and revive an individual. Officials say that if responders had arrived any later without NARCAN, the fatality rate could have been much higher.