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Burke County reports declines in overdoses and rolls out BEAR team, recovery programs
Summary
County officials reported a downward trend in overdose-related ER visits and fatalities and described scaling of a BEAR response team, low-barrier MOUD, recovery court participants and family-centered treatment programs; commissioners accepted a data-driven progress report and directed continued monitoring and provider assessment.
Katie Samuels, who leads Burke County's opioid-response efforts, told commissioners the county is seeing early signs of progress while emphasizing continued investment in treatment and coordination.
"In calendar year 2025, there were 370 suspected overdose calls that came in through our 911 system," Samuels said, adding that 93 of those calls were later verified as overdoses. She said there were 50 verified overdose fatalities in 2024, down from 60 in 2023, and reported a reduction in emergency-department visits related to overdose in the most recent data.
Samuels described nine funded programs now operational or near-operational: the BEAR team (a…
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