A statewide spike in suspected, non-fatal drug overdoses last week — 55 in all — triggered the threshold for a public alert from the Rhode Island Department of Health for the first time in three years.
For the period between March 10 and March 16, there were 55 people who received emergency department care for what appeared non-lethal overdoses, the health department said in a press release Wednesday.
The health department’s benchmark for a public overdose alert is 55 overdoses. So far in 2026, Rhode Island has averaged 41 non-fatal overdoses a week, placing last week’s numbers well above the recent standard.
Rhode Island has not had a statewide alert since 2023.
The data backing the alert comes from the Overdose Spike Alert System, which tracks suspected non-fatal drug overdoses in Rhode Island and across 11 regions in the state. For the last two weeks, Region 1 — which comprises Burrillville, Foster, Glocester, and Scituate — has also exceeded its limit of two overdoses (although state data only specifies it as “less than five.”) Region 7, which includes Cranston, received a similar alert on March 9.
The Overdose Spike Alert online dashboard shows 48 Rhode Islanders were treated for suspected overdoses. The total of 55 includes out-of-state residents who were treated in Rhode Island emergency departments, Joseph Wendelken, a health department spokesperson, said in an email Wednesday.
The state has used the Overdose Spike Alert System since Jan. 1, when it transitioned over from another tracking model called the Integrated Surveillance System (ISS). The tracker’s online portal promises that the new system has more flexibility in determining the substances implicated in overdoses, and “now allows [the health department] to identify overdoses caused by opioids (e.g., heroin, fentanyl), as well as stimulants (e.g., cocaine, methamphetamine), benzodiazepines, and other substances.”
The substances involved in the recent overdoses were not immediately available as of Wednesday afternoon.
“We don’t have data yet on that, as testing can take time,” Wendelken said over email.
It can take up to three months for toxicologists to confirm an overdose, according to Prevent Overdose RI, although some tests may take longer. The health department’s data dashboard on fatal overdoses shows that it is still working to confirm suspected overdoses from September through December 2025.
The health department cautioned people in its public alert Wednesday that fentanyl has a sizable presence in the illicit drug supply and continues to affect drug users who do not seek out opioids. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid about 100 times stronger than morphine, the drug used as a standard benchmark for comparing the strength of different opioids.
The ubiquity of fentanyl and similar drugs can lead to overdoses for drug users who lack the tolerance needed to withstand the drug’s potent effects on the central nervous system. Opioids are respiratory depressants and they can slow or stop breathing to the point of death — a real possibility for people who have taken the drug without realizing it.
The Overdose Spike Alert dashboard does break down demographic data for the suspected overdoses. Of the non-fatal overdoses between March 10 and March 16, 52% involved women and 48% involved men. Night was the most common backdrop for reported overdoses, with about 38% occurring between 9 p.m. and 4:59 a.m., followed by 29% between 5 p.m. and 8:59 p.m. Nearly all of the recent overdoses did not involve people who identified themselves as homeless or unhoused.
White people comprised 71% of the reported overdoses, while overdoses were more evenly distributed across age groups, typically falling around 20%. A quarter of cases involved people aged 13 to 24, while 13% of cases involved users who reported suicidal intentions.
The state health department urges people to avoid using alone and to carry naloxone, a freely available opioid antidote that can reverse overdoses if used promptly and correctly.
Prevent Overdose RI and RIDOH both have information on their websites about how to obtain naloxone, and other harm reduction resources.
This story was originally published by the Rhode Island Current.
