WASHINGTON — It’s still unclear what caused three people to die after they passed out near the site of a minor traffic accident Thursday afternoon in Northwest D.C.
Authorities tell WUSA9 it may take weeks to determine a cause of death for a trio of people who dozens of emergency workers tried to resuscitate on Connecticut Avenue, outside the Cleveland Park Library, around 1 pm. Just prior to that, the group’s car had crossed lanes on the busy District street before striking a vehicle that was in the southbound lanes of the thoroughfare.
The incident happened as people were walking up and down the sidewalks of Cleveland Park. One doctor who happened to be in the area told WUSA9 she thought the three people had overdosed. Witnesses could see emergency workers conducting CPR and calling for Narcan, the substance that immediately reverses opioid overdoses, on-site as well.
DC Fire and EMS tweeted Thursday the three people did not die from injuries sustained in the car crash, but rather from a medical emergency. DC Police are also investigating the incident as a possible overdose as well. If it ultimately turns out that they did die from an opioid overdose, their deaths would further fall in line with a trend that’s been unfolding across the District for years.
Metropolitan Police Department and Office of Medical Examiner data show more people have died from opioid overdoses alone in D.C., since 2018, than in homicides and traffic crashes combined.
In 2021, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data even showed D.C. ranked nationally for opioid deaths per capita.
Ambrose Lane Jr. serves as the chair of DC’s Health Alliance Network. He said opioid abuse has ravaged the District.
"I'm not sure if the District, in terms of infrastructure to address these issues, has adequately caught ups,” he said.
Lane added the number of opioid deaths observed in the District isn’t far off the number of coronavirus deaths D.C. has experienced during the pandemic.
“The opioid crisis is what is known as the silent killer because it doesn't cause as much of a visceral reaction as a homicide,” he said. “Opioids are kind of stigmatized.”
However, Lane said that needs to change.
He says D.C. needs more buildings for opioid treatment centers and more funding for different forms of opioid treatment.
Lane said in order to get that, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser needs to declare a public health emergency.
“That's what we are pushing [for],” he said.