Days after Scioto County EMS officials asked county residents to think twice before calling due to overworked first responders for medical issues; ambulance drivers found themselves very busy with the overdose epidemic.
Just after 7 pm, a Park Avenue caller reported that an overdosing woman was foaming at the mouth. When EMS personnel arrived on the scene, she admitted to taking cocaine. Portsmouth Fire Department Medics transported her to SOMC for treatment.
At noon the next day, a man said his wife had overdosed at Alexandria house on Findlay Street. He gave her a dose of Narcan, but she was still unresponsive. The woman was alert by the time medics arrived on the scene.
At 10 pm, medics and officers responded to a report of a woman overdosing outside the Riverside Café on Jackson Street. She refused medical treatment.
There was a report of another woman overdosing on Robinson Avenue at 1:44 am. Officers and medics responded to the scene. It turned out there was an open warrant for the woman. Police took her into custody.
At 6:30 pm the next evening, officers and EMS responded to a report of an overdose at a home on Walnut Street. Drug response team members spoke to the victim about going to rehab.
Officers answered a call for an overdose at a local rehab facility at 9 pm. Medics transported the woman to the hospital for treatment.
Publisher’s Note: In an effort to ease the stresses on the Emergency Room as well as time on calls by EMS, a Quick Response Team (QRT) has been developed by The Counseling Center. The QRT shares the same radio frequency as the Portsmouth Fire Department and responds to overdose calls with the goal of assisting EMS in revival attempts. They also offer recovery help to those that will accept it and who the police have cleared.