Laconia firefighters say they've seen a spike in the number of drug overdoses and use of the overdose antidote Narcan in the last five weeks compared to the same time last year.
Assistant Fire Chief Kirk Beattie says "the numbers have been the worst we've ever seen in this area."
WMUR-TV reports that Laconia firefighters have responded to an average of 30 overdoses in that five-week period.
During that time, fire personnel administered 116 doses of Narcan, a jump of 900 percent from the same time last year in the city of about 20,000 people. There were no known fatal overdoses.
Beattie says the other day the department responded to six separate overdoses within about a 12-hour period.
