Coroner reports increasing prescription‑drug overdoses; quick response team expands outreach

Hardin County’s coroner presented first‑quarter case figures and described expanding overdose‑response work and partnerships during the Fiscal Court meeting on May 13.

The update matters because the coroner reported a rise in fatal overdoses involving prescription medications and briefed the court on the county’s Quick Response Team (QRT), which links overdose survivors and families to treatment and harm‑reduction supports.

The coroner reported January case work that included 106 cases, of which three were accidental deaths (two overdoses), 99 were natural deaths and four were suicides. February work included 90 cases with three accidental deaths (one drowning related to flooding), 86 naturals and one suicide. In March staff recorded eight accidental deaths (seven overdoses), 102 natural deaths, five suicides and one pending toxicology result. The coroner noted toxicology screens increasingly detect prescription drugs such as duloxetine, pregabalin and benzodiazepines rather than only illicit stimulants or opioids.

The Quick Response Team, the coroner said, received 27 referrals from Hardin County EMS, made contact with eight people, referred six people to treatment who are currently in treatment and delivered four care bags. The care bags include fentanyl and xylazine test strips, naloxone (Narcan) and resource information. The office is partnering with CoreData to provide a part‑time community outreach liaison if grant funding is approved; Stepworks provided a full‑time peer support specialist dedicated to QRT work and Baptist Health Hardin is coordinating emergency‑department logistics to enable QRT outreach from the hospital.

The coroner said the office has received a Kentucky opioid abatement fund grant and applied for a $1,000 Ohio deflection mini‑grant for program support.

Court members thanked the coroner’s staff and QRT partners for outreach and support; no policy votes were taken at this briefing.