During Overdose Awareness Month, Knoxville Fire Department is working to shed light on the frequency of overdoses in Knox County.
From Aug. 1-12, KFD responded to a total of 101 reported overdoses, according to their Twitter posts. Assistant Chief Mark Wilbanks confirmed that since the beginning of 2022, the station’s total overdose response number was 1301, as of Aug. 12 at 5 p.m.
In August alone, the District Attorney General’s Office reports that Knox County has seen 11 deaths from suspected overdoses, as of Aug. 11, with the highest amount of suspected overdose deaths being three, on Aug. 3. This year, the Knox County Attorney General’s office reports 291 suspected overdose deaths as of Aug. 11. Last year, 498 suspected overdose deaths were reported by the Knox County Attorney General’s Office.