INDIANAPOLIS — Fentanyl is a growing problem in central Indiana and around the country.
"It's probably one of the bigger problems we've had here in recent memory, as far as recreational substances go. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't realize they're taking it when they're using things like heroin," said Dr. Tyler Stepsis, chief of emergency medicine at Eskenazi Health.
Fentanyl is much stronger than other drugs, like heroin, Stepsis said, and often, people don't realize they're taking it.
"It can be deadly pretty quickly because it's just so much more potent and it causes a lot of adverse effects," said Stepsis.
In Hendricks County, the Avon community lost two students to overdoses just in the past two months.
"The days of going to a trusted dealer and having there maybe be some limited legal ramifications of that, now somebody can take a pill one time now and it's a fatal mistake," said Capt. Amanda Goings, public information officer for the Hendricks County Sheriff's Office.
But it's not just a problem in central Indiana. New data published in JAMA Pediatrics found more than 1,500 kids and teens died from fentanyl-related overdoses in 2021. That's 30 times higher than overdose deaths from 2013.
In the last two decades, data shows more than 5,000 youth died from overdoses involving fentanyl. More than half of those deaths occurred in the first two years of the pandemic.
"We had, unlike a lot of things in 2020 when COVID came down, the substance use really didn't go down," Stepsis said.
The majority of overdoses coming into Eskenazi's emergency room are in adults, according to Stepsis, but teens, too, can be impacted. Overall, Eskenazi's ER treats around 10 overdoses a day.
"We live it every day in our emergency department," said Stepsis.
To combat the fentanyl problem, Stepsis said having access to programs and doctors willing and ready to help treat addiction is key, along with safe use practices and regular access to Narcan.
"It's definitely a lot more common than I think any of us would like to believe," he said.
If you see someone overdose, doctors recommend always dialing 911. A dose of Narcan can and should be administered in cases of a drug overdose, but Stepsis said it may not be enough.
“Heroin doesn’t last as long as fentanyl in the system, so Narcan may revive you, but same time, the Narcan may wear off and the fentanyl will still be there and then you’ll slip back into a coma and you could potentially stop breathing and die," Stepsis said.
Calling for EMS or getting someone to a hospital quickly can help ensure the person overdosing gets the immediate medical care they need.