Louisville officials gather to mark International Overdose Awareness Day

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The city of Louisville took the chance Wednesday to raise awareness about drug overdoses and what the public can do to help save a life.

Around the world Wednesday, the color purple serves as a reminder of the lives lost to drug overdoses, an opportunity for the families left behind to come together and heal.

Some of those impacted by overdoses in Kentucky got together inside Metro Hall on Wednesday. Joined by city officials, they raised awareness and fought the stigma surrounding overdoses.

It's all part of International Overdose Awareness Day.

In Kentucky, more than 2,000 people died from overdoses in 2021, a 14.5% increase from 2020. And, thus far in 2022, 300 people have already died in Jefferson County.

The director of Louisville's jail said numbers like these are causing him to bolster his fight against dangerous narcotics inside Louisville Metro Corrections.

"We really looked across the country, and no one was doing anything innovative, per se, for this," he said. "And we were feeling the effects. We were having folks die in our facility, and that's not good. So we really had to ... think outside the box."

In honor of Overdose Awareness Day, the Big Four Bridge, the City Hall Clock Tower and Louisville Metro Hall will be lit in the color purple.

In the event you come across someone suffering from an overdose, officials recommend you carry Narcan. Opioids can slow or stop someone's breathing, and just one spray of Narcan into someone's nose can help them keep breathing and be the difference between life and death.

Narcan can be requested by calling the Louisville Metro Public Health and Wellness Department at 502-574-8800. LMPHW's Harm Reduction Program also distributes fentanyl test strips and Narcan at 11 different locations throughout Jefferson County.