America's drug epidemic is forcing some bystanders to step into the unusual role of first responder as overdoses continue to climb in cities like Denver, Colorado.
A recent report from The Denver Post offered one example, describing an incident involving a Colorado man who overdosed in a Denver park, the culprit evident by syringes lying beside him. Z Williams, a passerby, noticed the man and administered naloxone – better known as Narcan, which helps reverse the effects of opioid overdoses – but the man was pronounced dead at the scene nonetheless.
The stories are becoming commonplace, warranting installations of naloxone dispensers in major U.S. cities like New York City and pushing pharmacies to offer the antidote over the counter.
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But naloxone is only helpful in reversing opioid overdoses, and it's not always at hand when seconds count.
According to the outlet, data from Denver's Office of the Medical Examiner indicate there were 87 overdose deaths in 2022 up astronomically, from the 26 who died for years earlier.
The numbers are not improving either and are instead on pace to exceed those from last year.
"72 people overdosed and died in public during the first six months of 2023. They accounted for more than a quarter of all 265 drug deaths in Denver in that time period," the Post continued. The percentage of overdoses in Denver is 16% higher than it was at this point last year.
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"People have died in bars, in bus stations, in parks. They have taken their final breaths in a city recreation center, a liquor store, a church. In parking lots, rail yards and alleys…" the report continued.
As the crisis unfolds, more and more passersby are being called to action to save lives just as Williams did.
Another incident from the city involved a man named Danny McCarthy who encountered a car that had stopped abruptly and saw inside its tinted windows a man slumped over unconscious.
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He, along with an off-duty paramedic and another bystander helped, The Denver Post reported. But, despite their joint effort to save the man, he ultimately didn't survive.
This coincides with news that a fourth wave of deaths from the deadly opioid drug fentanyl is taking the U.S. by storm.
The already-problematic drug has become even more high-risk as people have begun to mix it with other harmful substances, including stimulants. The journal Addiction by UCLA on Thursday found that the share of overdoses involving a combination of fentanyl and stimulants increased by more than 50-fold — from .6% (235 deaths) to 32.3% (34,429 deaths) — between 2010 and 2015.
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FOX News' Melissa Rudy contributed to this report.
