By Ashley Perham, Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Between last Wednesday night and Thursday night, 35 people overdosed on an unknown drug in Charleston. It was a spike that first responders said they had not seen in a decade.
Because of the quick response of local organizations, hospitals and first responders, including the Coordinated Addiction Response Effort Team, there were no reported fatalities from the overdoses, according to Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin.
“Number 1 for us is always to save a life,” Goodwin said. “Always, and we will continue to do that.”
On Thursday, police arrested the Ohio man who allegedly sold the drug as fentanyl, but what the drug actually was was still unknown. First responders said patients did not respond to the opioid overdose reversing drug naloxone in the way they normally do.
