A harrowing week for the city of Everett, local officials have raised the alarm following the fentanyl overdoses of three infants, resulting in one fatality.
Another string of incidents in the growing menace of opioid misuse in the community and across the nation.
The first of these tragic incidents occurred last Wednesday when a 911 call led responders to a 13-month-old baby who was found not breathing in an Everett apartment.
Despite immediate medical interventions, the baby later succumbed at the hospital.
Authorities are awaiting a report from the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office to determine the official cause and manner of death.
Earlier in the week, a distressing scene unfolded when an 11-month-old was discovered by parents, also unresponsive.
The child was subsequently hospitalized but has since been released, reported the The Everett fire and police departments.
Another alarming call came this past Wednesday concerning a 6-month-old struggling to breathe.
Firefighters at the scene provided urgent medical care, including the administration of Narcan, stabilizing the infant’s condition.
As of Thursday, the baby was reported to be stable at Seattle Children’s Hospital.
Authorities are treating these cases as isolated incidents, with ongoing investigations to determine if there were any criminal elements involved. No arrests have been made public at this time.
The broader implications of these overdoses are alarming, with a stark increase in opioid-related deaths among children in Washington.
According to The Seattle Times, in 2022, the state saw 38 children under the age of 18 die from opioid overdoses, a number that has more than tripled since 2019. Nearly all these deaths were linked to synthetic opioids, predominantly fentanyl.
The U.S continues to battle an opioid epidemic that has escalated since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With drug overdose deaths in the nation seeing a slight increase in 2022 and a continued rise in 2023, local and national leaders are called to prioritize the fight against this unyielding crisis.