By Shannon Taylor
MVP Regional Senior
Investigative Reporter
Drug overdoses continue to outpace other causes of death in the nation. In Shelby County, local law enforcement faces numerous challenges as representatives are describing fentanyl use as an epidemic. They continue to throw resources at one of the deadliest drugs in the country in this ever-changing landscape of drugs they continue to navigate.
County-level data on the Shelby County Department of Health’s website show that the overdose rate this year through June 2023 was at 202 deaths. Of those deaths, the most-common age listed was 28 years, with 25 percent of victims as white males, 48 percent as black males, 11 percent as white females and 16 percent as black females.
Through June, there were 878 emergency room visits; 1,232 reported suspected overdoses; 29 ER visits from June 11-17 alone and 29 reported suspected drug overdoses from June 11-17. Of the emergency-room visits, the most common age listed was 30 years, with black males accounting for 50 percent of visits, black females at 19 percent, white males at 14 percent, white females at 11 percent and 6 percent accounting for other/missing.
Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer John Morris said that their office recruits receive four hours
of training for Narcan and Fentanyl;
corrections deputies and law enforcement sheriff’s deputies receive two hours
of annual in-service training for Narcan and Fentanyl
“The Fentanyl training includes the identification of the various forms of drugs that could contain fentanyl, the proper PPE to utilize when handling those drugs identified as possibly containing the substance, and procedures for safe-evidence collection,” Morris explained.
Morris further explained that regarding Narcan training, “it includes an assessment of the scene for officer safety and an assessment of individual(s) suspected of overdose. In addition, instructors demonstrate how and when to administer Narcan, and to provide continued care until relieved by medical personnel.”
Morris said that all law enforcement deputies are issued doses of Narcan to use, when necessary and they are resupplied more doses after any use, “thus ensuring that deputies, especially those in patrol and patrol support services, always have Narcan with them. Our Narcotics Bureau is seeing Fentanyl mainly in cocaine or pills. Being synthetic based, it’s cheaper to make (and therefore to buy),” he stressed.
Centers for Disease Control county-level data in Tennessee for 2022 showed approximately 704 overdose deaths for Shelby County, an increase from 2021 overdose deaths, listed at 549. Carroll County had the lowest amount of overdose deaths in 2021 with only six. Data also showed that 376,967 opioid pain prescriptions were filled in Shelby County in 2022 alone, a decrease from 2020 where 412,989 were filled.
