Chesterton firefighters responded to two separate heroin overdoses over the weekend.

Fire Chief John Jarka told the Chesterton Tribune this morning that the first occurred at 7:16 a.m. Saturday in the 500 block of South 19th Street, where a 29-year-old man was found unconscious but breathing. First-responders did not need to administer a dosage of the anti-opioid Narcan but the subject was transported to hospital.

Then, at 7:12 p.m. Sunday, firefighters responded to the 100 block of Beverly Drive, where a man, believed to be in his thirties, was similarly found unconscious but breathing. Once again, Narcan was not administered but the subject was transported to hospital.

This weekend’s overdoses follow one late last month, when at 10:22 a.m. March 31 a man was found to have overdosed on the back porch of the Shorebird Cafe at 117 S. Calumet Road, Jarka said. In that case a patron of the restaurant administered CPR to the victim until first-responders arrived and dosed him with Narcan. The subject was saved, Jarka said.

“There’s unfortunately another bad batch of heroin in the neighborhood,” he added.

Jarka also spoke about the risk posed by accidental skin-to-skin contact, not only to friends and families of overdose victims but to first-responders, given the fact that much of the heroin in circulation now has been laced with the powerful pain killer Fentanyl. “It’s very unsafe for responders, for anyone who may come in contact with a victim’s skin.”