SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) – Dorchester County leaders are working to lower opioid overdoses as they say even one death is too many.

The Dorchester County Coroner’s office records nine overdose deaths from January to the last week of July 2025. The number is a decrease from the 24 recorded deaths in the exact time frame last year.

Coroner Paul Brouthers says the aim is zero deaths. He says the battle against deaths involving fentanyl is something “we can attack now” by expanding abatement resources.

The Dorchester Alcohol and Drug Commission requested the county council to use over $446,000 in funds from the South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund on Monday.

Commission Interagency Coordinator Chris Rollison says the dollars will go towards in-progress resources, including their online Critical Incident Management System, as well as staffing for the coroner’s office overdose coordinator. The coordinator works to research data, analyze trends, and ensure the county meets the community’s needs.

“The opioid crisis is caused by a lot of things that affect people for many different reasons,” Rollison says. “Therefore, we have to have a lot of different approaches ready and resources to be able to meet those needs and be able to combat everything that goes into that.”

The dollars will also go to the county’s three-part Community Overdose Response Plan. The plan includes programs such as peer support and the Leave Behind Program, a program that ensures resource support for family members left behind by overdose victims.

The response plan also includes the community paramedic program to help with outreach using CIMS.

“The community paramedic will be able to see, ‘oh this person experienced an overdose’ or they need some more follow up or they need some more follow up or maybe they’re an at-risk person in Dorchester County of an overdose,” Rollison says. “They’ll be able to respond in person and come visit them.”

County leaders say the dollars will go towards Narcan distribution centers. The opioid overdose reversal drug will be distributed for free at the Dorchester County Coroner’s Office, the Dorchester Alcohol and Drug Commission and Dorchester County Emergency Medical Services.

“If you know somebody that is habitually or regularly using drugs that have opioid or opioids in them, then it’s a good idea to have it on-hand or nearby just in case,” Brouthers says.

Brouthers urge loved ones or family to also keep the life-saving drug in case of emergencies.

“It’s good to have it in that environment because there will be unsuspecting people that could be exposed to fentanyl dust or other particulates in the air that could cause an overdose,” Brouthers says.

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