MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW)- Emergency rooms saw a major jump in overdoses of opioids last year which is more evidence that the nation’s problem is getting worse, and it’s costing hospitals in South Carolina millions of dollars.
The number of opioid overdoses increased 30 percent nationwide late last summer.
According to a report from m-u-s-c overdose hospital admissions and e-r visits cost south carolina 56 million dollars
The CDC is using a new system to track ER overdoses and found the rate of opioid overdoses rose from 14 percent to 18 percent per 100,000 ER visits over a year. Almost all of those overdoses were not fatal. What saves people lives is the drug Narcan which was administered more than a thousand times in Horry County in 2016 and nearly 400 of those in one zip code alone.
Faces and Voices of Recovery teamed up with Tidelands Health and Shoreline to have recovery coaches inside Waccamaw Community Hospital, so when someone comes for an overdose there’s someone right there who’s been in their shoes.
“To have somebody who has laid in that bed at some point, and been in that position say look I’ve been where you’ve been. I know how it feels. This is what my life looks like today will you let me help you? That is a powerful, powerful statement,” said Nicole Criss, with FAVOR Grand Strand.
