AUSTIN, Texas — Capt. Christa Stedman of Austin-Travis County EMS says their overdose heat map from last week shows a troubling drug scenario that led to at least 79 separate incidents and nine deaths in the greater Austin area.

“The thing that makes this surge so different than others is most of these people weren’t trying to take opioids,” Stedman said. “They were trying to use multiple different substances — crack cocaine, methamphetamine, K2.”

If there is a silver-lining, the 17-year field expert said it was the city’s quick response teams and dispersal of hundreds of units of naloxone to counteract the deadly street narcotic.

“Some of those additional adjustments were putting additional commanders out on the street, running calls,” Stedman said. “Our community health team distributing Narcan, essentially giving it to anyone they passed.”

While the surge is reportedly over, those responsible for the spike are still mostly unknown. Patrick Eastlick, a lieutenant with the Austin Police Department’s Organized Crime Unit, says five arrests were made involving the selling of this illicit drug. However, the suspects haven’t been directly linked to this deadly batch and whether a larger local supplier or even Mexican cartels are involved is still part of an ongoing investigation. 

“Step by step, we go after the dealers, street level or higher up and just keep following leads to get to the main source,” Eastlick said.

According to a recent report from ATCEMS, Travis County has about twice as many opioid overdose deaths as any other in Texas. It’s a sobering reminder of the dangers of putting any unknown substance into your body.

“You don’t know where it came from,” Stedman said. “Even if you got it from your friend despite their best interests, unless you got it from somewhere legitimate, you’re just taking a gamble.”