INDIANAPOLIS — The number of emergency calls for opioid response is declining in one part of the south side of Indianapolis.
According to Decatur Township Fire, the Mars Hill area is seeing a major decrease in overdoses—a positive trend for this southwest side neighborhood.
"It used to be close to one a day of an overdose. We would have surges and fall-offs, but it was pretty steady," said Division Chief of EMS Glen Osborn.
Now, first responders might get one call a week.
"Sometimes less, honestly, sometimes we'll go a couple of weeks. This ambulance here in Mars Hill always went through Narcan very quickly and now there are times that we're like, we haven't used this in a while, which is a good thing," he said.
Data shows calls have steadily decreased since 2020, especially on Mars Hill Street.
"This used to be a frequent place we would come to," said Captain Tom Meadimber.
The team said overdose runs are often first dispatched as cardiac arrests.
Signs of an overdose include someone unconscious and barely breathing with extremely small pupils, according to Osborn.
"What you're gonna see is somebody who's unconscious, who's barely breathing, their pupils become extremely tiny, so you'll be in a dark room with pinpoint pupils," said Osborn.
Osborn credits Narcan accessibility and awareness for the reduction in calls.
"We think that it's a result of the amount of information and education we've pushed out to the community and providing Narcan," he said.
Decatur Township fire stations have opioid rescue kits outside that include Narcan, information sheets about overdoses, and a way to get alerts to phones.
Officials also want people to know it's legal to reach out for help.
"You will not get in trouble for calling 911 for an overdose. We feel like we see a lot of people afraid of that, and that doesn't happen," said Meadimber.
