Sharp rise in fatal overdoses over the past two weeks

Public Health – Seattle & King County is alerting our community about a

. In the period from Dec. 27, 2020 to Jan. 9, 2021, the King County Medical Examiner’s Office identified 42 suspected or confirmed overdose deaths. Sadly, this two-week period is the highest number of overdoses in a two-week period ever documented in King County. Preliminary testing has found that the majority of the recent overdoses involved multiple types of drugs including 17 fatal overdoses that likely involved methamphetamine and 7 that likely involved fentanyl.

Public Health encourages everyone to be aware of the risks and to share this information throughout our community:

• It is important to have naloxone available to reverse an overdose. Visit http://stopoverdose.org/section/find-naloxone-near-you/.

• Do not use alone.

• Avoid pills from the street or online

• If you suspect an overdose, call 911 right away. The Good Samaritan Law protects you and the person overdosing from drug possession charges. More information on the Good Samaritan Law is available at http://stopoverdose.org/section/good-samaritan-law/

• Seek treatment for drug use disorder to help stop using drugs – call the Washington Recovery Hotline for treatment resources. 1-866-789-1511 (www.warecoveryhelpline.org).

For more information visit: Alert: Spike in fatal overdoses in our community