{"id":2237607,"date":"2024-05-05T11:46:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-05T15:46:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/austin-texas-opioid-outbreak-leaves-at-least-9-dead-75-overdoses-in-3-days\/"},"modified":"2024-05-05T11:51:40","modified_gmt":"2024-05-05T15:51:40","slug":"austin-texas-opioid-outbreak-leaves-at-least-9-dead-75-overdoses-in-3-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/austin-texas-opioid-outbreak-leaves-at-least-9-dead-75-overdoses-in-3-days\/","title":{"rendered":"9 fatalities, 75 overdoses in a 3-day opioid crisis in Austin, Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Faustin-texas-opioid-outbreak-leaves-at-least-9-dead-75-overdoses-in-3-days%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2237607&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>City and county\u2063 officials in \u200cAustin and Travis County are tackling a severe opioid overdose crisis. The outbreak is described as the largest in recent days by \u2062Travis County\u2062 Judge Andy \u2063Brown. Law\u2062 enforcement \u200defforts, including arrests and investigations into the opioid source, are ongoing. Emergency responders are actively distributing Narcan rescue kits to combat the rising\u2062 overdoses. \u2064Tragic deaths \u200band the identification of \u200dfentanyl\u2062 in toxicology reports highlight the \u200cseriousness of\u200b the \u2062situation. Measures like classifying fentanyl poisoning \u200bas \u2062murder \u2063and expanding Narcan distribution aim to address the crisis \u200ceffectively.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>(The Center Square) \u2013 Over the last few days, city and county officials are responding to what appears to be \u201cthe largest opioid overdose outbreak\u201d in Austin and Travis County, Travis County Judge Andy Brown said at a news conference.<\/p>\n<p>Austin Police Department Assistant Chief Eric Fitzgerald said police officers and emergency personnel reduced an untold number of deaths, saying, \u201cthere is a deadly batch of illicit narcotics in our community. Our intent \u2026 is to find those persons responsible and hold them accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lt. Patrick Eastlick with the APD\u2019s narcotics unit said two persons of interest were detained and one was arrested for felony possession of a firearm. An investigation is ongoing into the source of where the drugs came from. \u201cAnyone found responsible for distributing the suspected fentanyl faces potential charges of murder or manufactured delivery of controlled substance causing death or serious bodily injury,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, the Texas legislature passed a bill that Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law changing state law to classify fentanyl poisoning as murder, require death certificates to state cause of death related to fentanyl poisonings, expand distribution of Narcan, among other measures.<\/p>\n<p>So far, the APD has filed five charges related to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fentanyl-related-deaths-hit-rural-california-communities\/\" title=\"Fentanyl-Related Deaths Hit Rural California Communities\">fentanyl overdose deaths<\/a>, Eastlick said.<\/p>\n<p>Austin-Travis County EMS Assistant Chief Steve White said emergency personnel initially responded to calls in the downtown area Monday morning, which later spread throughout the city. Emergency teams were deployed to quickly distribute Narcan rescue kits.<\/p>\n<p>Within a 24-hour period, they responded to over 51 suspected overdoses with many individuals in cardiac arrest. Four people were first reported dead.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have not experienced overdoses of this volume since 2015, when K2 struck our community,\u201d White said, referring to synthetic marijuana. EMS usually gets an average of two to three calls a day, but responded to over 50 calls after the outbreak began, \u201cwell over a thousand percent increase.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a separate press announcement, Dr. Angela Carr with Travis County EMS said as of 6 pm on Thursday, Austin Travis County EMS had responded to 75 suspected overdoses. So far, more than 400 doses of Narcan have been distributed to affected areas.<\/p>\n<p>Brown said they had to wait until the toxicology reports were completed but they were investigating \u201ceight deaths as suspicious.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The current death total is nine, according to a county spokesperson. \u201cPreliminary toxicology reports indicated the presence of fentanyl in nine cases, cocaine in eight and methamphetamine in three, the American-Statesman reported.<\/p>\n<p>Brown said emergency personnel saved dozens of lives by administering Narcan, a drug that reverses opioid overdoses if administered quickly enough. Information about where Texans can obtain Narcan can be found here and at Txcope.org.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDrug overdose deaths continue to be the number one cause of non-accidental deaths in Travis County,\u201d Brown said. In 2022, Travis County commissioners declared the county\u2019s overdose epidemic as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/oregon-governor-encourages-people-to-call-police-on-neighbors-violating-covid-orders\/\" title=\"Oregon Governor Encourages People To Call Police On Neighbors Violating COVID Orders\">public health crisis<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In March, White spoke at an Austin City Council meeting on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/washington-d-c-mayor-extends-emergency-declaration-for-15-days\/\" title=\"Washington, D.C. mayor extends emergency declaration for 15 days\">public safety<\/a> saying, \u201cTravis County now has twice as many opiate overdose deaths than any other county in Texas, per capita.\u201d He explained the scope of the \u201csevere increase\u201d in opioid overdoses, saying they averaged roughly 100 a month at the time.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, while the legislature was in session, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers seized half a million lethal doses of fentanyl in Austin, The Center Square reported. They also seized other narcotics, weapons, ammunition, and several stolen vehicles in a bust that was part of a DPS Austin Violent Crimes Task Force operation assisting the APD.<\/p>\n<p>Violent crime and fentanyl overdoses have increased in the state capital since the Austin City Council voted to defund the APD in 2020. Efforts by voters to increase APD funding and reverse the city council\u2019s actions failed in 2021. After losing a significant number of APD\u2019s force, the number of homicides in Austin spiked, APD was no longer able to respond quickly to 911 calls, street takeovers got out of control, a machete crime spree ensued among other violent crimes being reported.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In response, Gov. Abbott took action, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-republican-leadership-announces-taskforce-leaders-to-fix-bidens-failures\/\" title=\"House Republican Leadership Announces Taskforce Leaders to Fix Biden's Failures\">creating task forces<\/a> and surging additional resources, including directing DPS troopers to provide long-term assistance to APD. He also worked with the Texas legislature to implement measures to prevent municipalities from defunding the police in the future, The Center Square reported.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOverdose deaths are completely preventable and everyone in Travis County should be aware and prepared to respond to an overdose incident,\u201d Brown said. \u201cEveryone should carry Narcan and know how to respond to an overdose. I carry a dose of it in my computer bag.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>City and county officials in Austin and Travis County are addressing a significant opioid overdose outbreak. Travis County Judge Andy Brown described it as the largest in recent days. Austin Police Department Assistant Chief Eric Fitzgerald mentioned the efforts of police officers and emergency personnel in managing the situation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2237608,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/iStock-1004637310.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2237607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/iStock-1004637310.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2237607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2237607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2237607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2237608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2237607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2237607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2237607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}