Heroin-fentanyl overdoses continue to kill in Cecil | Local News

CECIL COUNTY — A drug overdose has killed someone in Cecil County roughly every six days thus far in 2019, according to statistics released Thursday by Ray Lynn, this county’s heroin coordinator.

As of early Thursday night, 169 people in this county had suffered drug overdoses since Jan. 1, he said. Of those overdoses during that 115-day stretch, Lynn added, 18 were fatal.

“Ninety percent of the overdoses are heroin- and fentanyl-related, and fentanyl continues to be a major factor in the overdose deaths,” Lynn noted.

Comparing the 2019 figures with the numbers for the corresponding time period last year, a significant drop in fatal overdoses and a slight increase in total overdoses are observed.

From Jan. 1 through April 25 last year, 113 overdoses were reported in Cecil County, and 26 of them were fatal, according to the statistics.

Lynn attributes the decline in fatal overdoses thus far in 2019 compared to the first 115 days of last year to the ever-increasing availability of naloxone, also known by its brand name Narcan, which reverses the effects of heroin, and to the continuing efforts by county leaders to educate the public on the antidote.

“I think it has to do with the Narcan,” Lynn opined, before reporting that Narcan was administered to 133 of the 169 people who suffered overdoses in Cecil County thus far in 2019.

The youngest person to suffer an overdose in Cecil County so far in 2019 was 18, while the oldest was 68, and both of them survived, according to Lynn.

“We see a wide range of ages. The average age of a person who suffers an overdose is 35. The average age for a fatal overdose is 54,” Lynn said.

The reported overdoses continue to be scattered throughout Cecil County, with higher numbers logged in and around Elkton and other more heavily populated areas, Lynn reported.

“It’s pretty much even between males and females. Maybe slightly more males,” Lynn said.

Lynn also reported that health department referrals were made in the 151 overdoses in which the patient survived thus far this year.

In April 2017, the county adopted a protocol in which paramedics and police officers must report every drug overdose call they handle to Lynn, who expediently sends referrals to Cecil County Health Department peer recovery specialists and they, in turn, make an intervention contact with the person who overdosed within 24 hours, when possible.

Lynn, a retired Maryland State Police trooper, started in the newly created Cecil County heroin coordinator position in December 2016. During the 28 months since then, 1,449 people in Cecil County have suffered drug overdoses and, of those, 159 resulted in death.

Working closely with law enforcement agencies, health department officials and others in the community, Lynn keeps copious statistics, as well as anecdotal information, in an effort to help battle the addiction problem. He also uses his information to spot trends in an effort to identify drug suppliers, with the goal of police investigators arresting them.