HSE's opioid 'red alert' saved a number of lives, committee told
Picture: Hse The On In Dublin A Hse 10 Nitazene About Hse Overdose November By City Warning Was Notice In Issued The Cork
A "red alert" warning about overdosing on a new drug led to a number of lives being saved in Dublin, as workers feared fentanyl had reached Ireland, a Joint Policing Committee has heard.
The notice was issued by the HSE on November 10 which saw posters, fliers, and signs put up all over the inner city warning users about an opioid called nitazene.
On Monday, the Dublin City Joint Policing Committee which looked at “Drug Trends in the City”, heard frontline workers were fearful fentanyl had arrived in Ireland. The drug has been a major contributor to fatal and non-fatal overdoses in the US.
Following lab tests on “syringes, powders and blood samples” Forensic Science Ireland identified nitazene — a potent form of synthetic opioid.
Nitazene and fentanyl are two different synthetic opioids, both illegal in Ireland. The committee heard it can be easy to take too much nitazene too soon which will result in an overdose.
Garda Seamus McCormack said forensic drug testing took place in November following the spike in overdoses in the north and south inner city.
“It was reported that opioid heroin users were becoming sick very quickly and it was taking repeated dozes of naloxone to revive them," he said.
Naloxone is an approved medication designed to rapidly reverse opioid overdose and can be administered by injection or nasal spray.
Gda McCormack said: “A risk communication was issued by the HSE to advise of the serious and ongoing threat to people who use heroin in the Dublin region. This went out through social media and news channels. It asked people to follow harm-reduction steps.”
He added there was a combined response to the emergency between gardaí, drugs response units, the HSE and the State laboratory.
“On the morning of the November 10, we found out we had 34 people overdosing who had come to the service attention in that 24-hour period,” he said. "On that day, nitazene was identified by Forensic Science Ireland in a powder sample...That particular nitazene hadn’t been identified before — there are several different types.
"This resulted in the HSE upgrading their risk communication to a red alert for the city that evening. It was the first identification of this substance in Ireland. It is now under intense monitoring, and it was the third time it had been found in Europe in a short period of time”.
Garda McCormack referenced 57 overdoses were recorded in total.