Oxford House on South Ward Avenue at about 6:30 a.m. Tuesday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

A medical emergency at Oxford House, the controversial addiction recovery residence that opened in Rumson without public notice in August, had neighbors buzzing about a possible second overdose there Tuesday.

Police Chief Scot Patterson tells redbankgreen that paramedics were called to the house on South Ward Avenue sometime after 5:30 a.m. on a report of an unresponsive person inside. Paterson said he did not know the nature of the emergency.

“All I know is that when the person left, he was alive and being treated by paramedics,” Paterson said.

“It’s not a fatality,” Paterson said. “It’s just a basic medical emergency.”

Paterson said it was unlikely he would get any official information on the incident unless the matter proved otherwise.

Still, rumors of a drug overdose have already circulated among neighbors, Paterson said. A 25-year-old resident of the house died of a drug overdose in the house in October, an incident that awakened the neighborhood to the presence of the addiction recovery facility.

Last month, officials of Oxford House, in what they characterized as efforts to be better neighbors, installed a paid staffer to live among the recovering drug and alcohol addicts who live in the house and split living costs. The house can accommodate up to nine residents at a time, they said.