The Wood County Health Department issued the county's first-ever overdose alert on Oct. 14, after the number of drug overdoses rose between Oct. 7 and Oct. 14.
Public health strategist Ashley Normington said the threshold for an alert in Wood County is two overdoses in a week, and the overdoses do not have to be fatal. Staff checked the circumstances with emergency responders around the county before deciding to issue the warning, she said.
Normington said opioid overdoses and deaths have fallen in recent years in the county. County figures show opioid deaths dropped from 13 in 2020 to nine in 2024, and ambulance calls for drug overdoses fell from 85 in 2020 to 24 in 2025.
The department urged people who use drugs not to use alone. Anyone without a trusted person nearby can call Safe Spot at 1-800-972-0590, a 24-hour line staffed by people trained to recognize an overdose; operators ask for an exact location only for use in an emergency and do not ask for names.
Free test strips and naloxone, commonly known by the brand name Narcan, are available at public health vending machines in the county, including at the River Block Building in Wisconsin Rapids, Mid-State Technical College in Grand Rapids, St. Vincent de Paul Outreach in Marshfield and Patriots Tower in Marshfield. The machines also carry gun locks and hygiene products.
Help is also available through syringe programs, sharps disposal sites, peer support, counseling and medication-assisted treatment in Wisconsin Rapids and Marshfield. Residents can find addresses on the county harm reduction site or by calling the health department at 715-421-8911.
