(CHICAGO) Paramedics have seen a spike in heroin overdoses on the West Side since Wednesday night and have since armed themselves with more antidote, fire officials said.
At least 18 people have overdosed on heroin throughout the last 20 hours, Chicago Fire Department Cmdr. Frank Velez said Thursday night.
Fire officials have equipped paramedics and first responders with larger quantities of Narcan, a nasal spray that can reverse the effects of an opiate overdose, Velez said, adding that he couldn’t say how many, if any, of the overdoses were fatal.
“The local hospitals noticed there was a spike and an increase of heroin overdoses in a short period of time,” Velez said. “There’s no normal, but when we have one after another like that, it alarms us.”
Velez said Stroger Hospital’s Division of Toxicology is investigating further.
