GEORGETOWN COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — Georgetown County has the highest rate of people hospitalized for opioid overdoses in the state, according to a report from the South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services.
According to the data, about seven out of every 1,000 people in the county were hospitalized due to abuse or dependence on opioids in 2020, which include prescription painkillers, fentanyl and heroin.
About 500,000 people nationwide have died from an opioid overdose from 1999 to 2019, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Prescription opioid overdose deaths began rising in the 1990s, heroin overdose deaths began increasing in 2010 and a wave of synthetic opioid overdose deaths started in 2013.
Signs of an overdose include constricted pupils, falling asleep, slow and shallow breathing, gurgling sounds, a limp body and pale, blue or cold skin, according to the CDC. Naloxone — now carried by many law enforcement agencies nationwide — can reverse opioid overdoses before they become fatal.
Here are the counties with the highest rates of opioid hospitalizations. Rates are given per 100,000 people:
- Georgetown – 649.33
- McCormick – 433.27
- Colleton – 427.32
- Horry – 397.65
- Dillon – 341.22
- Williamsburg – 339.17
- Florence – 336.97
- Darlington – 316.73
- Marlboro – 275.67
- Not listed
Here are the counties with the lowest rate of opioid hospitalizations. Rates are given per 100,000 people:
37. Chesterfield – 129.24
38. Cherokee – 129.14
39. Saluda – 102.57
40. Aiken – 100.66
41. Abbeville – 89.70
42. Bamberg – 85.31
43. Calhoun – 81.56
44. Allendale – 46.04
45. Edgefield – 25.68
46. Marion – 13.05
