St. Louis City EMS workers use Narcan for overdoses more than a dozen times a day

THE MAN in charge of the city's ambulance crews, Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson, says it's time to start thinking beyond Narcan for the city's overdose problem.  Jenkerson says up to 15 times a day EMS crews are reviving overdose victims with Narcan,
Stock photo Photo credit Getty Images

SAINT LOUIS, MO (KMOX) - The man in charge of the city's ambulance crews says about 7% of all daily runs are for drug overdose cases. Many are being revived with the overdose drug Narcan.

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St. Louis City Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson says it's a vicious cycle with some "frequent flyers" overdosing again and again, "Narcan's not the answer. I think we need to look at a different method to treat the people who are addicted to the opioid's and it needs to be done quickly."

The Chief says he'd like to see the city help more people get into drug treatment programs to work on overcoming their addictions. Right now, he says of the 200 daily ambulance runs the department makes, up to 15 of them are overdose cases.

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Featured Image Photo Credit: Getty Images