After a yearslong surge in opioid-related overdoses, deaths are trending downward in Travis County.
Stephen White, the assistant chief for Austin-Travis County EMS, told Austin's Public Safety Commission on Monday that health officials confirmed a downward trend. Last year, officials suspected deaths were dropping and, now, the final 2024 numbers confirm that, White said.
"We all kind of held our breath and crossed our fingers that this wasn't just a one-off, but that it was actually the start of a trend," White said. "And so I'm here ... to say, it looks like it's actually a trend."
For years, Travis County has seen more than twice the average opioid deaths than any other county in Texas. The Austin area saw its peak of overdoses, largely fueled by fentanyl, in September 2023. White said since then, there's been a steady decline in both 911 calls related to overdoses and deaths.
EMS attributed the dip in overdoses to the distribution of naloxone, a drug used to reverse the effects of opioid overdoses. EMS Division Chief Angela Carr said the availability of naloxone, or the name-brand Narcan, has been crucial to preventing deaths.
"We are seeing an increase in naloxone being administered prior to our arrival, which is instrumental in affecting that death rate," she said.
Carr said 3,505 Narcan kits were distributed since the county's opioid abatement program started in 2024, and that more than 430 people, largely City of Austin employees at libraries, parks and rec centers, have been trained to administer the drug.
White said EMTs and paramedics have also taken a more aggressive posture on opioid-related calls, targeting specific hotspots while also passing out more naloxone. He said that preparation was key in avoiding a mass-casualty event last year, when Austin saw its biggest spike in overdoses in nearly 10 years. All told, nearly 80 people overdosed on fentanyl last May and 11 people in Travis and Williamson counties died.
"That day, when we first started getting those overdoses, would have been the deadliest day in the history of Austin, Texas — deadlier than any other day in recorded history," he said. "And it wasn't, because they were ready and they were prepared."
The drop is part of a downward trend in fentanyl-related deaths in Texas. State data suggest a dramatic drop from 2023, when 2,306 people died from fentanyl, to 1,307 deaths in 2024. For context, that number was just 225 in 2017.
