Over the course of 24 hours, the number of drug overdoses in the area has risen to double-digit numbers, according to a statement released by the city of Springfield on Thursday (10/17/19).
“We found that we were having a dramatic rise in calls for overdoses they come into us as patients not breathing,” Fire Chief David Pennington said. “In a 24 hour period, we had the same number of calls for an overdose, that we usually see in a month at our hospital so it began to be very concerning that we had something that we really needed to be paying attention too”
In response to the almost-overnight spike, which was first noticed by the fire department and Springfield Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Pennington called an emergency meeting with other local first responders.