SPOKANE, Wash. — It’s hard to know the true cost of Spokane’s drug problem, but Spokane Police Lt. Terry Pruninger says the trends so far this year are alarming.
“The word ‘Narcan’ is mentioned more than 30 times in police reports over a period of about nine days,” he said after compiling Thursday’s police reports.
This is far from a scientific analysis. Preuninger checked reports for words like “Narcan” and double-checked calls to police for what was later determined to be an overdose.
“It seems to have increased a little bit over the last few weeks,” he said.
In the case of SPD, overdoses are difficult to track.
First, it’s not a crime.
“We don’t have a crime code for it, it’s not entered into our crime data,” Lt. Preuninger said. “There seem to be more overdoses being reported on social media and other sources, and we know there have been a few deaths. Those are death investigations, but it’s still an overdose. I can’t say that. We still have a lot of information coming back from the medical examiner’s office.”
KREM 2 asked the medical examiner’s office for overdose death data but did not receive a response Thursday.
Preuninger said even if a police officer or citizen uses Narcan in an overdose, it may not be traced, further complicating the ability to calculate the complete overdose number.
Far more frequently, overdoses require EMS response.
Spokane Fire Department Information Officer Justin de Ruyter said the data shows a “consistent and significant increase in the number of OD calls” since 2022.
That year, SFD responded to 1,195 overdose calls (an average of three per day). By 2023, that number had reached 1,600 calls for overdoses, an average of four per day. In 2022, EMS administered Narcan to 499 patients. The following year, 669 patients received Narcan.
In the first 38 days of 2024 alone, SFD responded to 249 overdose calls (an average of six per day).
De Ruyter said the actual number of overdoses is likely much higher because some people come in after receiving reports of cardiac arrest.
“It’s very difficult to trace,” Lt. Preuninger said of the overdoses.
One problem is that there is no central source of data between police, fire, coroners, and hospitals.
“As far as I know, there is no type of repository that has all four of these groups putting their information in one space,” Preuninger said.
Another unknown, at least for now, is what is causing the apparent increase in overdoses. Lt. Preuninger says it’s too early to know whether it’s related to a single drug or a new version of the substance currently in question in Spokane.
“Fentanyl is the biggest problem we have,” he said. “It definitely outweighs all other substances combined.”
According to the latest numbers on the Spokane County Regional Health Department’s online dashboard, there will be 215 drug overdose deaths in 2022, 73% of which will be attributed to opioids.
A request from SRHD for more overdose data, including numbers for 2023, was not returned Thursday.
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