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The cost of a life-saving miracle is straining the system

As the number of overdoses continues to climb in Butler County, law enforcement officers and ambulance crews are saving people's lives.

But those life-saving miracles come with a cost that is straining the local health care system.

The cost of the opioid antidote naloxone that saves lives is just one part of the cost problem.

In Butler County, 74 lives were lost in 2016 and as of last week, there were 39 confirmed fatal overdoses this year.

Hundreds of others have overdosed, but have been saved by a timely application of naloxone — often called by its brand-name Narcan.

Each dose of naloxone has a cost, each ambulance dispatch for an overdose has a cost and each autopsy performed on a person who died from a drug overdose also has a cost.

In some cases, these costs are covered directly with taxpayer money, while in other cases the costs put a strain on privately owned ambulance services and nonprofit medical providers.In the case of Butler Ambulance, it costs about $240 — not including the cost of naloxone — to have a two-person crew get in an ambulance and respond to an overdose call, said Gene Troyan, director of operations.A full report will appear in Butler Eagle.

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