Aug 16, 2016 2 min read

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Huntington officials are warning people about an especially dangerous batch of heroin after authorities responded to 26 overdoses within a four-hour span.

Cabell County EMS Director Gordon Merry said at a news conference Tuesday eight of the victims were revived Monday using the opioid-overdose-reversing drug naloxone and others by a manual resuscitator called a bag valve mask to stimulate breathing. One victim was given three doses of naloxone.

Merry told media outlets earlier the heroin the users took was laced with a strong, unknown substance.

“Right now, we don’t know what it’s been cut with,” he said.

Many of the overdoses were in an area surrounding one apartment complex, leading officials to believe the cases were connected, Merry said. He said the amount of calls that were received overwhelmed responders.

“Just to give you an idea, when the first few came in, three ambulances were already out dealing with overdoses,” Merry said.

For a half-hour span, there were no ambulances available in the county to send, Cabell County EMS assistant supervisor David McClure added.

Cabell County responded to 39 overdose calls in all of August 2015.

In Huntington, there have been more than 440 overdoses from all types of drugs this year through mid-July.

“As a public health problem, this is an epidemic of monumental proportions,” Dr. Michael Kilkenny, director of the Cabell-Huntington Health Department, said. “We really must stop the demand side of the equation. We must attack the issue of addiction.”

Huntington Police Chief Joe Ciccarelli said at the news conference the latest response “creates a huge drain on our public safety resources.

“When someone wants to know why they had to wait two hours for a policeman to come to answer a routine call, this is why,” he said. “The only long-term solution is … law enforcement coupled with treatment coupled with prevention.”