Community leaders take action after mass overdose in Baltimore
Community leaders and local organizations are helping city agencies after more than 27 people overdosed in West Baltimore on Thursday.
Baltimore City officials report no deaths. First responders took 27 people to the hospital. Fire Chief James Wallace said seven people were in critical condition and 15 others were in serious, but not life-threatening, condition.
Fire crews and paramedics responded to the intersection of Pennsylvania and North Avenues around 9:20 a.m. for several reported overdoses, Baltimore City Fire Chief James Wallace said.
When the crews arrived, they encountered a patient they believed to be suffering from a drug overdose.
"They recognized very early on that they were dealing with a situation that was not only severe but one that was going to escalate," said Chief Wallace.
Overdose investigation
City officials haven't said what substance caused the overdose. However, they are looking into that as well as who distributed it.
Mayor Brandon Scott said officials have checked roughly 177 vacant properties as part of the investigation.
As Baltimore Police investigate, the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE) launched a neighborhood stabilization response.
"We will be conducting canvassing in roughly a four-block radius," said Stephanie Mavronis, the director of MONSE. "We're going to look at engagement today to guide how we'll be deploying resources in a coordinated fashion over the coming weeks."
Community response
Nikki Smith, the founder of The Journey Mental Health & Wellness in Upton, said she's unfortunately not surprised to hear about Thursday's mass drug overdose. She stopped by the scene on Thursday and returned Friday to give back to the community.
"The goal is to not find ourselves back here," Smith said.
Smith said she's doing so by building relationships and fostering education in the Penn North community.
"We are doing snowballs," Smith said. "We are doing pizza and we are doing hot dogs."
She and her team set up outside Simmons Memorial Baptist Church to offer food, resources, and Narcan.
"Nicole from We are Responders…She's going to come down and do some demonstrations on some CPR and life-saving skills," she said.
Smith said it's important to have daily resources for this community.
"We should have this kind of community outreach every day because there's someone that overdoses in this community every single day," Smith said.