FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 20, 2020
CONTACT:
Joan Carr
OFFICE: (901) 222-9010
CELL: (901) 691-5704
SHELBY COUNTY STREET TEAM FOR OVERDOSE PREVENTION (STOP) EVENTS FOR WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 2020
SHELBY COUNTY, TN –The Street Team for Overdose Prevention (STOP) will provide street-level outreach at locations around Shelby County this week, May 19-23, 2020, to address the recent spike in drug overdoses.
The Shelby County Health Department (SCHD) monitors drug overdose activity in Shelby County by tracking incidents reported by first responder organizations and the West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center in a database called ODMAP. ODMAP allows SCHD to collect both suspected fatal and non-fatal overdose activity, in real time across jurisdictions in Shelby County. Since March 15, in roughly 60 days, there have been more than 700 drug overdoses, 102 fatal, most of which are related to opioid use. That is the highest number of overdose incidents SCHD has recorded since it began tracking overdoses.
SCHD and its community partners, including the Shelby County Opioid Task Force, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office, and S.T.O.P. (Street Team for Overdose Prevention) have planned a county-wide response.
S.T.O.P. will provide free overdose reversal kits, including Naloxone (Narcan), treatment resources, and needle exchange at the following locations, dates and times today, Wednesday, May 20, 2020:
- 1590 Sycamore View Road, 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
- 28 N. Claybrook Street, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
- 3628 Summer Avenue, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
The Shelby County Health Department maintains a webpage on its website www.shelbytnhealth.com, with information about opioids, including overdose data, which is updated each Friday.
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