900 Given Narcan By Nashville Fire Department In 2017

NASHVILLE, TN -- The Nashville Fire Department administered more than 900 doses of Narcan to overdose patents in 2017 with the price of the life-saving drug skyrocketing as its use becomes more common.

In 2011, there were two heroin overdose deaths in Nashville, according to the Metro Health Department. That jumped to 88 in 2016. There were 84 between January and October 2017, putting Nashville on pace for more than 100 if the average holds through the end of the year.

As overdoses climb, so has the price of Narcan. In 2009, the fire department paid $12 a dose. It is now $43.

“The issue is simply supply and demand. Over the last five years, overdoses – demand – have increased in some places by more than 150 percent. Now, just about anyone can get Narcan with a prescription or even over the counter in some places,” Emergency Management Chief Danny Schaeffer told WKRN.

First responders throughout Middle Tennessee carry the drug now. Metro Police began carrying it last year, as did police in Franklin.

Image via Franklin Police Department