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Sheriff's office opioid response unit making difference in Seminole County

The Seminole County Sheriff’s Office has a new unit that responds to drug overdose calls to help get people back on the road to recovery, and Channel 9 found out the unit is making a difference.
One 27-year-old woman named Morgan visited Fire Station 12 to say thank you to the firefighters who saved her life.
It's a trip she almost didn't get to make after she overdosed the first time she used heroin in early February. 

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — TRENDING NOW:

"I don't even remember being there.  I think people think only junkies overdose or only junkies use or this that and the other.  I'm a functioning adult," Morgan said.
Morgan was sober for three years before drinking with a friend who offered her heroin.
911 operator: “Is she breathing right now?”
Caller: “Um, no. Like, I don't feel like she's getting good breaths. No, no, no.”
Hours after Morgan was taken to the hospital, investigators with the Sheriff's Office’s Seminole County Opioid Response Effort (SCORE) contacted Morgan.

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They offered to put her in contact with services, resource providers or addiction counseling.
Officers in the special unit continue to follow up with Morgan.
Sheriff Dennis Lemma said "SCORE" is one of the first programs in the state to help people take the steps to getting clean.
“The greatest responsibility that I have is to protect and preserve human life,” Lemma said.
The sheriff also wants people to know about the good Samaritan law, which protects people who call in overdoses. They will not face criminal prosecution.
“If that person who she was with would have simply walked away in fear that he was going to be caught up or arrested or prosecuted for this thing, she without question would have been dead,” Lemma said.
The Seminole County sheriff reported that in the first three months of the year, they have responded to 97 overdoses.
While the trend is steady, there was a steep decline in fatal overdoses in February and March.
The sheriff said it's premature to say the efforts are working, but the department will continue to follow those numbers.

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