International Overdose Awareness Day to be commemorated in Clark County

CLARK COUNTY — International Overdose Awareness Day will be commemorated with a remembrance walk in Springfield today, according to a news release.

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The Clark County Combine Health District will be hosting, “Chalk the Walk,” today from 2 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. on the Springfield City Hall Plaza on E. High Street.

A remembrance walk begins at 7:30 p.m. and chalk will be provided to create sidewalk art throughout the event, and an art memorial will be present for all those affected by an overdose, the release said.

Free Narcan and Narcan training will be provided, as well as free overdose prevention awareness resources.

“Overdose awareness day is an opportunity to educate the community and public about a well-known, but often misunderstood death, and gives us a time remember lives that are lost to deaths and to reduce stigma surrounding overdoes deaths and how we talk about them,” said Gracie Hemphill, Clark County Combined Health District Health Planning Supervisor.

Overdose deaths in Clark County increased in 2021, following a three-year decrease, the county said.

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A total of 79 overdose deaths were recorded countywide last year, the most since 2017 when there were 105.

Eighteen overdoses have been recorded this year through May and illicit fentanyl remains a leading contributor of overdoses, according to the release.

It’s involved in over 68% of overdose deaths in Clark County.

“Sometimes it seems like overdose deaths are put into figures or they are just statistics,” Hemphill said. “But there are people, there are families, that are affected by this every day.”

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