(Updated 6:23 p.m. with corrected information)
At least four people overdosed within moments of each other in the Hill Thursday afternoon, thanks to a bad batch of a street drug known as K2.
The city has issued a public health alert and is racing to learn more about the overdoses and get more information out.
Fire, police and health officials updated the public at a 17-minute press briefing shortly before 6 p.m. in the Emergency Operations Center at 200 Orange St. Click on the video above to watch the conference.
Officials subsequently reconvened with updated information, including that one of the fatalities reported at the initial briefing had been resuscitated. They said they’re working hard to keep people informed as new information comes in.
Fire Chief John Alston Jr. and Police Chief Anthony Campbell said that at least four overdoses, and maybe more, were linked to the ingestion of K2, a synthetic cannaboid, that’s usually smoked. It also goes by the name “Spice Mix.”
The chiefs were careful not to attribute the overdoses to opioids or PCP; they said they’re not sure yet precisely what poison, if any, was mixed in with the consumed K2. Drug samples have been sent to the Drug Enforcement Administration for testing.
“Whatever it was, it affected these [four] people the same way,” Alston said at the briefing. Their hearts slowed, he reported, and they had trouble breathing. “Some were in a lifeless condition, others in altered mental status.”
Emergency management chief Rick Fontana, John Alston, Anthony Campbell and David Hartman, at an emergency briefing.
The calls started coming in at 2:37 p.m., according to Campbell.
The first involved a 36-year-old woman fallen to the ground on Court Street, who later died. At this point, it appears that she overdosed on a different drug from what the others took. Her case is not, as of yet, being included in the official tally of K2-related overdoses.
“I’m not saying it’s not related. I’m not saying it is related,” Alston said.
The first verified K2 calls came at 2:52 p.m. at two separate locations in the Hill: one at Vernon Street and Congress Avenue, one at Davenport Avenue and Vernon.
Two people had overdosed at each location and were transported to the hospital. Two of them confirmed they were K2 users.
On the way over, two went into cardiac arrest, meaning their hearts stopped beating. One is in a medically induced coma.
Officials did not provide identifying information about the victims.
At 4 p.m. a fifth person was discovered to have overdosed, on High Street downtown. But that involved prescription medication and not K2, Campbell said.
Campbell said a call from Kensington Street is also being investigated as possibly related. Campbell said Friday morning that that person apparently overdosed from PCP.
Anyone with information relevant to the overdoses is asked to dial 911 or call detectives at (203) 946‑6304.
The New Haven Fire Department dispatched its paramedics to 547 overdoses last year. (Click here for a recent story following them on calls.)
Click here and here for stories about a period in 2015 when a bad batch of street drugs led to 16 overdoses, two of them fatal, in 16 hours.
Fire Department paramedic Keith Kerr wheels an overdose victim into the emergency room earlier this month.