WHEELING, W.Va. — The Wheeling-Ohio County Emergency Management’s overdose alert system was used for the first time in months on Tuesday and officials say that’s a good thing.
Set up in the Summer of 2019, the system used by Wheeling first responders sends out text alerts when there is a spike in overdoses of three or more overdoses within a 24-hour period.
Philip Stahl, the Public Information Officer for the Wheeling Police and Fire Department, told MetroNews that alerts were sent out on Tuesday due to three overdoses in 24 hours.
He said the incidents, which are still under investigation, occurred in three separate sections of the city from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Stahl said the goal for the alert system is to ultimately save lives.
“If you have a family member that is at-risk or know at at-risk person, it can prevent them from using drugs or you check in on them,” he said.
“It’s trying to keep the process going with getting people help in this epidemic that is still ongoing.”
According to Stahl, officials have only used it a handful of times since its inception on June 5, 2019. He added the last time there were three overdoses in 24 hours in Wheeling was in September.
Wheeling first responders have said overdose numbers went down in the fourth quarter of 2019 and there have been less than a dozen overdoses since the beginning of 2020.
The funding and partnership for the alert system, that Stahl said is the only one of its kind in the Upper Ohio Valley, came from the Wheeling Police Department (WPD), the Wheeling-Ohio County Emergency Management Agency, Youth Services System and the Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department.
WPD said by signing up, a citizen will receive overdose, emergency alerts, and public service announcements via voice or text through the police department’s ‘Neighborhood Crime Watch Groups.’
To sign up, visit ohiocountyemergency.com.