The Ocala Police Department and Ocala Fire Rescue chiefs were optimistic about their departments’ ongoing efforts to reduce local opioid overdoses in the city.
The remarks came during their update for Ocala City Council members on Tuesday, May 4.
Ocala Police Department Chief Mike Balken and Ocala Fire Rescue Chief Shane Alexander cited a reduction across the board in responses, deaths, and Narcan deployments.
“You can see our public safety opioid response has flattened and or reduced. We like to think our efforts are starting to work as the community starts to get more providers,” said Alexander.
Balken indicated that OPD’s numbers had changed for the better in most cases, citing an 18% reduction in overdose responses over the same period in 2020, and a 42% reduction in amnesty participants.
Narcan, known also as naloxone, is an opioid antagonist that binds to opioid receptors in the brain in place of opioid drugs and prevents opioids from binding, temporarily reversing an overdose.
For more information on either department’s community initiatives, visit the Ocala Fire Rescue or Ocala Police Department websites.