Thurston County's overdose death rate exceeded the statewide rate but ranked lower than most of its neighboring counties in 2021, according to newly released age-adjusted data.
The data appears in an Opioid and Drug Overdose Data dashboard that's kept up to date by the Washington State Department of Health. The agency announced the new dashboard in a Wednesday news release.
Tao Sheng Kwan-Gett, Chief Science Officer at DOH, called drug overdose deaths, especially those caused by opioids such as fentanyl, a "serious public health crisis" in the country and Washington state. He said the dashboard may help the public respond to the crisis.
"It is our hope that community members and organizations across the state will use this data to understand who in their communities are most affected by opioids, and to advocate for treatment and services," Kwan-Gett said.
From 2007 to 2021, over 17,500 Washington residents died from drug overdoses and about 68% of those deaths involved an opioid, he said.
The dashboard uses data from death certificates and hospital discharge information, among other sources, the news release said.
Death rates on the dashboard are age-adjusted, meaning they are based on a standard U.S. population age distribution, to make different groups more comparable.
Thurston County saw 26 drug overdose deaths in 2016 for a rate of about 9.1 per 100,000 people, the data shows. For comparison, the state saw 1,077 such deaths for an overall rate of about 14.5 that year.
The data show the county's death totals reached 91 in 2021, causing its death rate to more than triple to about 31.7.
Meanwhile, the statewide total reached 2,264 in 2021 for death rate of about 29. Up until that year, the county's death rate had remained below the statewide trend.
The dashboard indicates the data for 2022 and 2023 are not final, and that recent data is not provided by county.
Synthetic opioids, which include fentanyl, accounted for 49 overdose deaths in 2021 and less than 10 deaths in 2016. The state does not show exact figures below 10 to protect personal health information, the news release says.
Local officials have blamed an influx of fentanyl for the recent surge in overdose cases, The Olympian previously reported.
Coroner Gary Warnock, who oversees all deaths that occur in the county, shared last month that overdose deaths reached 153 in 2022.
He said fentanyl, which is 50-100 times strong than morphine, accounted for 114 of those deaths. In 2021, he counted 51 overdose deaths involving fentanyl.
Most of Thurston County's immediate neighbors had higher overdose death rates in 2021. The one exception was Lewis County which had a rate of about 25.4 that year.
While deaths have been increasing, overall non-fatal hospitalizations due to drugs have decreased across the state.
In 2016, there were 5,927 hospitalizations statewide and an age-adjusted hospitalization rate of about 79.7, the data shows. In 2021, there were 4,901 hospitalizations and a rate of about 62.7.
However, Thurston County does not appear to be following that trend.
The data indicates Thurston County had 221 hospitalizations and a hospitalization rate of about 78.4 in 2016. That rate reached a recent low of about 64.8 in 2020 when there was a total of 188 hospitalization. The next year hospitalizations totaled 235 for a rate of about 81.1.
The state's population topped 7.8 million residents in 2022, according to the state Office of Financial Management. The county's population surpassed 300,000 in June.
Resources
Narcan, generically known as naloxone, is a medicine used to rapidly reverse opioid overdoses. The state Department of Health has a list of instructions and resources on its website, as well as a search engine to help people find naloxone near them.
Those in need of help for substance abuse or mental health concerns can call the Washington Recovery Help Line at 866-789-1511.
Anyone experiencing a crisis can call 988 to reach a national lifeline.
Education on how to prevent opioid overdose can be found at stopoverdose.org.
