Firefighters at Capt. Brian O’Neill’s station south of the University of Louisville used to respond to few drug overdoses, but an opioid epidemic fueled by prescription pills and heroin changed that.
As recently as 2012, crews with Engine 18 at S. Fourth Street and Montana Avenue made just seven overdose runs during the entire year. Since then, however, those calls have soared.
Engine 18 had responded to 152 overdoses through late October -- nearly twice as many than during all of 2016 – according to Louisville Division of Fire data.