ORLANDO, Fla. – Officials returned Monday to a condemned Orlando condo complex where nearly a dozen people overdosed on heroin in 24-hour span last week, according to authorities.
A tent housing doctors and nurses, part of an integrated intervention response team, was set up at the Blossom Park condos on Landstreet Road.
Orange County officials said the measure is critical because people still living in the condos are believed to be selling heroin.
"If someone needs help, and that's such a key part of heroin -- this is a (crippling) drug, this is a highly addictive drug -- and if people need treatment services, they need help, we want them to know they can come here," said Carol Burkett of the Orange County Drug Free Living Coalition.
The condo complex was condemned earlier this year by code enforcement, but the county said some residents refuse to leave.
Local 6 has learned that the county owns the tent, and the counselors inside are on staff, so the county said the effort shouldn't cost taxpayers any more money. Orange County spent $218,000 earlier this year by giving temporary housing to residents who chose to leave.
Orange County sheriff's deputies said last week that there were 11 heroin overdose cases last week, and some of the victims died.