Oglethorpe County Emergency Medical Services is responding to a rise in overdoses, an issue county officials say can impact anyone.
There were three recorded overdoses and two deaths last week alone.
“It's becoming more and more prevalent,” EMS Director Jason Lewis said. “We've had a pretty tough week here with overdoses, critical sickness and deaths.”
EMS received 32 calls in reference to an overdose in 2022. This year, first responders have responded to 30 overdose calls in the county.
“There is no demographic,” Lewis said. “It happens to the wealthy. It happens to the poor.”
County officials said they are combating the rise through a team approach by sharing information between agencies focused on treatment and those in law enforcement and prevention.
The primary goal is to help people in need.
“We want to do right by the person, just trying to help people be better,” Lewis said.
Oglethorpe County Sheriff David Gabriel said the first step of treatment is to help a user to stop doing drugs. Jail, he said, can sometimes be the best way to achieve that.
With no drugs in the commissary, individuals are forced to quit using, and this allows the Sheriff’s Office to step in and offer individuals needed resources.
“We want to confront it straight on and identify the issue to try to do what we can to get them into treatment or get them ultimately where they need to be,” he said.
Gabriel and Lewis agreed their No. 1 prerogative is to keep people alive.
“It's almost like you're fighting a losing battle,” Gabriel said. “Sometimes, it's like you're trying to save their life, and they're doing everything not to.”
Magistrate Judge Megan Coile said drug use in Oglethorpe County is rampant and often impacts small, rural communities due to a lack of resources and public transportation.
Because of this, she said it’s important to highlight the help that is available.
“We just have to keep influencing people to do better, find jobs, find ways to help get them back and forth if we have to,” she said. “Talk to people about mental health because the addiction issue goes hand in hand with the mental health problems we have.”
Oglethorpe County offers drug court to help people with addiction recovery. It’s a yearlong program that assigns officers to check in on participants to make sure they are staying sober and on the right track.
The Sheriff’s Office also offers a recovery program in conjunction with a local church called Restoring Hope. Gabriel said it’s similar to Alcoholics Anonymous, helping people learn coping mechanisms to take back control of their lives.
Officials say residents can also help by learning CPR. Narcan, which Skrip Shoppe Pharmacy said it sells without a prescription per request, is also a common tool to reverse an overdose.