Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Jacksonville Medical Examiner's Office Hit Hard By Opioid Epidemic

Medical examiner Dr. Valarie Rao and Lt. Mark Rowley, with Jacksonville Fire Rescue Division, joined First Coast Connect to discuss the region's opioid epidemic and spike in overdoses.
Kevin Meerschaert
/
WJCT News
Medical examiner Dr. Valarie Rao and Lt. Mark Rowley, with Jacksonville Fire Rescue Division, joined First Coast Connect to discuss the region's opioid epidemic and spike in overdoses.
Medical examiner Dr. Valarie Rao and Lt. Mark Rowley, with Jacksonville Fire Rescue Division, joined First Coast Connect to discuss the region's opioid epidemic and spike in overdoses.
Credit Kevin Meerschaert / WJCT News
/
WJCT News
Medical examiner Dr. Valarie Rao and Lt. Mark Rowley, with Jacksonville Fire Rescue Division, joined First Coast Connect to discuss the region's opioid epidemic and spike in overdoses.

A public health crisis spinning out of control.

That’s how Dr. ValarieRao, medical examiner for Florida’s4thDistrict, describes North Florida'sopioidepidemic. The district encompasses Duval, Clay, Nassau, Hamilton and Columbia Counties.

Rao said the number of local overdoses due toopioidabuse is on such a dramatic increase that the freezer where bodies are stored awaiting an autopsy is filled to capacity.

"We have had so many cases," she said. "And these are young people dying, unaware of what they're buying on the street."

Rao said the rapidly growing use of fentanyl is part of the large spike in opioid deaths. Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid analgesic that is similar to morphine, but is 50 to 100 times more potent. 

The number of bodies piling up at the morgue due to overdoses is so large,Raosaid her office has had to tell hospitals and funeral homes they need to keep bodies there until space is made available.In 2016 there were 544opioid-relateddeaths in the district. Since 2014, the number of paramedic calls in North Florida responding to overdoses has tripled, according toJFRD.

 

First Coast Connect host Melissa Ross can be reached at mross@wjct.org or on twitter @melissainjax

Copyright 2020 WJCT News 89.9. To see more, visit .

Melissa Ross joined WJCT in 2009 with 20 years of experience in broadcasting, including stints in Cincinnati, Chicago, Orlando and Jacksonville. During her career as a television and radio news anchor and reporter, Melissa has won four regional Emmys for news and feature reporting.