From: Laurie Moody
Reno County Communications Specialist
620-694-2568 | laurie.moody@renogov.org

There has been an alarming increase in fatal and non-fatal overdoses in Reno County, including three in a 24-hour period. Since June 17, there have been 15 overdoses, one of which was fatal, and four heroin overdoses requiring multiple doses of Naloxone within a period of 28 hours. This rapid increase likely involves synthetic opioids with illicitly manufactured Fentanyl. This is also suspected to be mixed in other substances including methamphetamine, heroin, and fake pills made to look like Oxycontin.

The Reno Recovery Collaborative has a coalition focused on work to prevent, educate, and support citizens of our community who have a substance misuse disease or are family members. Thanks to the continued efforts of this group, the Reno County Health Department can collect data of the events in real time and issue alerts. They have been tracking data of suspected overdoses since October 1 which can be found on the dashboard here: https://arcg.is/Ki9OX.

Following in the steps of the CDC’s nationwide Health Alert issued December 17, 2020, the Reno Recovery Collaborative recommends the following steps and strategies for our community on an organizational and individual level:

• Naloxone (Narcan) education, trainings, and availability https://www.dccca.org/naloxoneprogram/
• Encourage more people to carry naloxone (Narcan)
• Encourage members of our community who use substances to never use alone
• Check in on friends or family regularly that use substances

For more local information, education, and specific activities on substance misuse, or if you want to get involved in the Reno Recovery Collaborative, please contact Seth Dewey at seth.dewey@renogov.org.