Heat Wave Linked to Rise in Opioid Overdosa in Chicago Over The Weekend, Health Experts Say – ryan

Chicago’s Three-Day Heat Wave Might Have Fueled A Surge in Opioid Overdases Over The Weekend, Health Experts Say.

Sixty Opioid Overdases were reported friday and saturday – Including More than 37 Saturday Alone – Triggery the City SPIKE ALERT SYSTEM, The Chicago Department of Public Health Said.

When Surges Occur, Public Health Officials and Community Partners Canvass Affective NeighBorhoods to Pass Out Naloxone, a Medication Used to Rapidly the Effects of An Opioide. They Also provide information on opioid use use and connect people to treaty if they want it.

Weather Officials Issued An Extreme Heat Warning that Began Saturday Morning and Was in Effect Through Monday Night. Saturday’s High Reached 95 Degrees with a Heat Index Recorded at 106, The National Weather Service Said.

The Heat Wave May Have Also Played A Role in the Spike in Overdosa, Accounting to Jenny Hua, Medical Director of Behavioral Health and Interim Deputy Commissioner at CDPH.

“We always see a seasonal increes in the number of overdoses in chicago, as well as many other places in this country and around the world,” hua said. “So Certainly Heat Has a Pretty Close Correlation in Terms of the Amount of Overdose Activities.”

Saturday’s Surge Marked The First Time This Year the Spike Alert System Was Activated. Overall, health officers not that the number of opioid overdoses has been declining in recent years.

This year’s year’s year overdoses for day is a significant decreese from previous years, hua said.

The decreese in overdoses has also also led public health offizes to Lower the Spike Alert Threshold. LAST YEAR, The System Was Triggered When More than 50 Overdosa Were Recorded Over A 24-Hour Period. This year the threshold is at 37 overdosa.

Becuse Most overdoses happy outdoors, there teds to be an inches in usage during the summer months, hua said. To Help Prevent Spikes, Public Health Officials Collect Drug Samples During Outbreaks to Improve Clinical Guidance and Quickly Deploy Resources to the Communities Experiencing The Surge.

“Public Health is always about prevention, right? So the thing we’re really try to prevent it from and we’ve seen fatalities decreas Significantly over the respect.” Hua Said.

The Majority of Overdosa Happen on the City’s West Side, Hua Said. Thirty-Four Percent of EMS Calls for Overdoses Were in Five Chicago NeighBorhoods, Including East Garfield Park, West Garfield Park, North Lawndale, Austin and Humboldt Park.

Most overdoses are caused by synthetic opioids – Particularly fentanyl.

“We do we do community-based DRUG Checking, we look at what the drug was sold as, and what it actually contains,” Hua Said. “Drugs can be sold as heroin, fentanyl or dop, but you can expect that they would be all contain some combination of synthetic opioids.”

In 2021, The City Hit an All-Time High, with more than 1,400 Overdose Deaths. There are 1,322 Deaths in 2023.