Everett reports 3 fentanyl overdoses in young children in 1 week

The Everett Fire Department said in a statement Thursday that this week the city’s firefighters have responded to three suspected fentanyl overdoses in very young children, one of them fatal.

“The City of Everett is deeply concerned about the increasing fentanyl overdoses that involve young children," the statement reads. "Even a small amount of fentanyl residue can be lethal to children, as the drug can be more potent to a baby or toddler's smaller body and lack of opioid tolerance. Pills can look like candy to children, especially when they're brightly colored.”

Firefighters were able to revive two children, aged 6 and 11 months, with the overdose reversal medication Narcan, but a third child, aged 13 months, died.

“The Snohomish County Medical Examiner's Office will conduct a positive identification of the child, as well as determine the official cause and manner of death,” the statement said.

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Dr. James Lewis, the health officer for Snohomish County, called the three incidents “a complete tragedy” and said he’s scrutinizing the available data “trying to think of ways we can work to prevent this from happening in the future.” Snohomish County reports opioid overdose deaths on a dashboard.

Lewis said deaths among children aged 15 and under remain extremely rare.

The county had no such deaths in 2020 or 2021. But in 2022 there were four, and two more so far this year before the Everett Fire Department’s announcement.

Lewis said nonfatal overdoses in young children are also a growing concern.

“We do hear from partners that there is increasing nonfatal overdoses as well, which can obviously be very traumatic and scary both for the infant and for the family,” he said.

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Lewis stressed that people should not use fentanyl in the presence of children, and should keep all drugs and medications secured.

He said people struggling with substance use and addiction can seek help by contacting the Washington Recovery Helpline at 866-789-1511.

Lewis said hospital visits for opioid overdoses generally in Snohomish County increased from 2021 to 2023, then declined last year and have now stabilized “at a high level.”

“We do see some positive indicators,” he said. For example, Narcan is more widely available and is getting administered sooner.

Lewis said with Washington State’s opioid settlement funds, Snohomish County is launching a mobile treatment unit that will provide methadone and buprenorphine out in the field later this year “and we’re working with some EMS folks to start administering buprenorphine in the field,” where people who experienced an overdose are more likely to accept it, he said.

The Everett Police Department is investigating all three overdoses cases, according to the statement, and does not believe they are connected.

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Washington Senate Republican Leader John Braun (R–Centralia) issued a statement calling the overdoses in Everett “preventable tragedies” and said the adults involved should face criminal charges.

“It’s completely indefensible when an infant or child gets sick or dies because someone in the household is using deadly drugs such as fentanyl,” Braun said. “These children are innocent and whoever’s negligence is exposing them to lethal street drugs needs to be charged with a felony for child endangerment.”

Earlier this year parents in Benton County were charged with manslaughter after their 4-year-old daughter died in Kennewick of an apparent fentanyl overdose.