Law enforcement agencies are using International Overdose Awareness Day to remind people of the many resources available to them for recovery — and for good reason.
What You Need To Know
- A recent study shows that for the first half of the year, at least 30 people died every week in 2020 from drug overdoses in Tampa Bay
- Officials say they want members of the community to know that there are resources available to them to get help
- Local police say they are handing out Narcan to help combat the rising death toll from overdoses
A recent study shows that in the first half of 2020, at least 30 people died every week from a drug overdose in the Tampa Bay Area.
Every year, on Aug. 31, officials highlight International Overdose Awareness Day to raise awareness about drug related overdoses. In Pasco County, officials said the Sheriff’s Office Behavioral Health Intervention Team, also known as BHIT, is doing their part by handing out NARCAN to people and their families when they experience an overdose.
“We’ll follow up with them ... we’ll go back and check on them within 24 hours is the goal," said PCSO Cpl. Rich Ortiz. "We’ll check on them at the hospital if they’re still there or at their house. And we just make that connection, build that relationship, let them know we got some services they can take advantage of."
Ortiz and a therapy K9 named Mango are also on hand to remind people of the services offered and provide relief in some of those tough situations.
“I knock on a door or I go see someone or a family, and I’ve got my gear on and they may be a little hesitant,” Ortiz said. “When I go with therapy K9 Mango, within 10 minutes, we’re talking about real life things and they’re not worried about what they connect law enforcement with necessarily.”