Picente: Heroin Overdose Spike Stabilized

Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente says steps taken by the County’s Overdose Response Team and its partners have resulted in a stabilization of the recent heroin overdose spike.

The Oneida County Overdose Response Team issued an alert on Monday after 21 heroin overdoses were reported over 10 days in Utica and Rome, resulting in five fatalities.

“Since the alert was issued, the number of overdoses has dropped and we are no longer in a spike situation,” Picente said. “Our Oneida County Overdose Response Team took quick and concise action working hand-in-hand with law enforcement and our community health and service providers to notify the public of this crisis and offer services to stem the severity of the problem. I want to commend everyone involved for their tremendous efforts.”

The Oneida County Overdose Response Team is a subgroup of the County's Opiate/Heroin Task Force.

The team was established to address the opioid/heroin overdose crisis in Oneida County.