Terry DeMio

tdemio@enquirer.com

Nine people died over the weekend of suspected overdoses, ending a month that tallied 258 overdose visits to emergency rooms in hospitals throughout Hamilton County. Health and public safety officials aren't sure why the numbers are rising.

The Hamilton County Heroin Coalition on Monday held a news conference and put out an alert to the public, police, emergency medical services, hospital emergency workers and treatment centers about the surge in both overdose deaths and overdose rescues in February.

Newtown Police Chief Tom Synan, director of the coalition's Law Enforcement Task Force cautioned that the rise in overdoses was not an "emergency," but that the coalition was determined to make people aware of the spike in cases. "We don't want to cause a panic," he said. "If information can save a life, then we're putting it out there."

Dr. Lakshmi Sammarco, the Hamilton County coroner, said that among the family survivors of two of the overdose deaths were three children, who are now orphans. "The opiate crisis is leaving children as the unheard victims," she said.

Hamilton County Health Commissioner Tim Ingram urged drug users and their families to get naloxone, the life-saving antidote to heroin and opioid overdose. He noted it is available at area pharmacies. "We don't want our folks who have the disease of addiction to end up in Dr. Sammarco's morgue," he said. "We are saving thousands of lives, giving people a second, third and fourth chance at life, and that's so important. We want them to get treatment."

Ingram also cautioned intravenous drug users not to share their syringes and other equipment, because hepatitis C, a blood-borne disease that can be contracted through such equipment, is the No. 1 communicable disease in the county. The virus attacks the liver and can cause cancer and other maladies, and it can end in death if the person who has it does not get proper treatment.

Addiction Services Council Development Director Kevin Richardson said the council, which provides direction to treatment as well as triage work, is overwhelmed with people seeking help.

"This is, indeed, a tragic situation," Richardson said. "The good news is, these people are seeking help. We need the continued resources ... to get that done."

Hamilton County Commissioner Denise Driehaus, chair of the coalition, said she will be at the Ohio Legislature in mid-March to demand money for Hamilton County.

"We have programs that are working right now," Driehaus said. "We just need to expand them." Among the county's programs are "quick-response" teams. Within days of someone overdosing, a team of professionals goes to the person's home and provides support and direction to addiction treatment.

It was not clear as of Monday what specific drugs were killing people from Friday through Sunday, or what was causing the general increase in overdoses for the month. Sammarco said her staff has identified numerous mixes of drugs, some of which are the highly potent fentanyl and its analogs, ketamine, heroin and "a lot of cocaine." She called the cocaine uptick "huge."

"We've seen a gamut of mixtures," she said. It is not safe to take any drug purchased on the streets, the officials said. "Ever play Russian roulette?" Sammarco asked.

The county's overdose deaths in 2016 tallied at least 388, with 25 coroner cases still pending, said Sammarco. That compared to an overdose death toll of 414 in 2015. But Sammarco also noted that the period from Jan. 15, 2016 to Feb. 26, 2016, yielded 49 such deaths, which compares to 94 for the same period this year.

The bulk of the overdoses during February occurred on the west side, specifically Delhi Township and the three Price Hill neighborhoods.

Mercy Health hospitals in the region, which took the brunt of a barrage of overdoses from August through October, again saw a spike in emergency department overdose cases from Friday through Sunday, said Nanette Bentley, spokeswoman for the hospital system. From Friday through Sunday, emergency staff treated 16 overdose cases in Anderson, Fairfield, Mount Orab and West hospitals and Queen City Medical Center. In addition, West Hospital treated a drug-related overdose case within its intensive care unit.

"It's a lot," Bentley said.

And at least in Cincinnati, February has also marked the most-transported overdose cases to hospitals for overdose in a year. CincyInsights, a public data portal that tracks the city's fire and ambulance runs for possible heroin overdoses, shows that 63 percent of the runs ended up with hospitalizations, while 37 percent did not. The percentage of hospitalization was the highest in the last 13 months. The data, however, only goes up to Feb. 22, before the most recent spike in deaths occurred.

"I'm frustrated that we are up here again" talking to reporters about overdoses, Synan said.

"This is not a political issue. This is a matter of life and death. It needs to stop being a criminal issue. What we are doing is not working."

IF YOU NEED HELP

If you or a family member has an addiction problem, you can call the Addiction Services Council's hotlines. In Ohio, call 513-281-7880. In Kentucky, call 859-415-9280