Overdoses Trending Down In Manchester And Nashua

MANCHESTER, NH - American Medical Response (AMR) provides ambulance service to Manchester and Nashua, the two largest cities in New Hampshire.

AMR gathers data on the responses that involve overdoses in the two cities and publishes the information every month.

The numbers have been summarized for 2023 to document the overdoses, trends, and current information.

2023 Nashua & Manchester Combined

AMR medics responded to a total of 924 suspected opioid ODs in Nashua and Manchester.

697 in Manchester, and 227 in Nashua, this is a 2% reduction from 2022. (924 vs. 944).

A total of 99 people died from suspected opioid overdoses. 60 of the deaths were in Manchester and 39 in Nashua, this is a 20% reduction from 2022 (99 vs. 123)

2023 Manchester:

Suspected opioid ODs were 1% lower. (697 vs. 701)

Suspected fatal opioid ODs 24% lower. (60 vs.79)

8% of the suspected opioid ODs in Manchester were fatal.

Opioid-related fatalities dropped significantly in Manchester last year which is highly encouraging. After 2 years of significant increases in the number of suspected opioid overdoses in Manchester, the 2023 number was essentially unchanged from the previous year.

2023 Nashua:

Suspected opioid ODs were 7% lower. (227 vs. 243)

Suspected fatal opioid ODs 11% lower. (39 vs.44)

17% of the suspected opioid ODs in Nashua were fatal.

Suspected opioid ODs continued to drop for the second year in a row in Nashua and this past year suspected deaths dropped as well. The percentage of suspected opioid OD deaths compared to ODs continued to be almost double that of Manchester.

In NH, anyone can seek substance use disorder treatment by accessing the NH Doorway program 24/7. To access the NH Doorway program, call 2-1-1 at any time of the day or night, or visit www.thedoorway.nh.gov. If you believe someone is overdosing call 9-1-1 immediately.

To help prevent death, it is critical that people who use illicit drugs do not use them alone and have Narcan readily available. Narcan is available throughout New Hampshire at most pharmacies. It is available free of charge from local public health departments & any NH Doorway location. It is completely safe and easy to administer. Narcan is now available over the counter, meaning it is available without a prescription.

Attached are several breakouts of the data: