Santa Cruz officials speak on the dangers of fentanyl, after a young girl overdosed at Depot Park

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION-TV): The fentanyl crisis keeps growing in the U.S. and here on the Central Coast.

A young girl overdosed at Depot park in Santa Cruz back in February. Sammy Pratti walks her dog at Depot park every day.

She was a bit alarmed to find out what San Cruz police said happened there last month.

Santa Cruz Deputy Chief Bush said a 12-year-old girl purchased suspected fentanyl, and made her way to the park with another individual, and had an overdose near the bathroom area.

"I wouldn't think that kids would be doing drugs so young," said Pratti.

Law enforcement and fire officials responded to the scene and provided medical treatment to the young girl. She was stabilized and released to her mother.

Something that Dominican Hospital medical officials are not too surprised to hear. They've seen an uptick in drug overdoses among adults and children from last year to this year.

They also said, that last month, they've seen an uptick in Fentanyl mixed with methamphetamine drug overdoses in young children.

"During February, we have seen a significance increase in middle-aged school children 13-to-15 year-olds coming to the emergency department who have overdosed," said Tammy Green, Manager of the Emergency Department, at Dominican hospital.

Because of this, Green said that she wants people to know that Dominican hospital has resources for anyone - adults and children - who are battling substance abuse.

"You can come here to the emergency department and please ask, "I want a bottle of the Narcan nasal spray," said Green.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, drug overdose deaths rose from 2019 to 2021 with more than 106,000.