In 2024, Chester County has reported 69 accidental overdose deaths linked to drug and alcohol use, marking the county’s lowest total since 2015, writes Kenny Cooper for WHYY.
County officials are projecting the number will be even lower this year.
“It’s because of everything everybody is doing in this room – county leadership, our providers, my staff – everything that we’re doing is working,” said Jamie Johnson, director of the county Department of Drug and Alcohol Services.
Fatalities in the county climbed from 74 in 2015 to 144 in 2017, with alcohol, cocaine, and fentanyl most frequently identified among the substances involved. Since that peak, accidental overdose deaths have continued to decline each year.
“It means that the community is paying attention to this epidemic,” said Chester County Commissioner Josh Maxwell. “It’s become a focus of schools. It’s become a focus of health care providers. It’s become a focus of prosecutors and all those efforts are making a meaningful difference.”
Chester County used funds from opioid settlements to expand medication-assisted treatment at the county prison, strengthen warm hand-off programs, enhance school-based initiatives, and reinforce recovery services. The county also increased its supply of naloxone and test strips.
Read more about accidental overdose deaths decreasing in Chester County in WHYY.
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