11% of Marion County overdose deaths in 42601 area code INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Overdose deaths continue to devastate Marion County, with one zip code leading the county in fatalities this year. On Friday, the Marion County Public Health Department and local organizations went into the neighborhoods, meeting residents with one goal in mind: Saving lives. The Marion County Public Health Department and community partners, such as Damien Center, Overdose Lifeline, and Step Up, Inc., spent the afternoon going door-to-door distributing naloxone (Narcan), which is used to quickly stop and overdose, and shared information on overdose prevention, treatment resources, and harm reduction. “By bringing this awareness and by making sure that everyone has Narcan, we really are trying to increase the response time to anyone that is having an overdose,” said Madison Weintraut, assistant administrator at Marion County Public Health Department From January 2024 – September 2024, there have been 383 suspected overdose deaths in Marion County, according to data from the Marion County Coroner’s Office. “For years, this neighborhood has been disproportionally affected by the opioid crisis, and especially in the second quarter of 2024, we’ve really seen it adversely impacted by both the number of overdoes and the number of fatalities,” Weintraut said. Fentanyl was found in 40% of the drugs tested in syringes collected, a list that included 4-ANPP, meth, cocaine and xylazine. Out of the 383 overdoses, 44 were in the zip code 46201. The outreach event is a program of Overdose Data to Action, a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention managed locally by the Marion County Public Health Department. Weintraut said it’s the first time the organizations have tried the door-to-door method. “This is really exciting,” Weintraut said. “We’re hoping that if it’s successful, we’re hoping that we can replicate it based on that quarterly data where we see neighborhoods that are adversely affected.”