Emergency service personnel issue warning after spike in overdose calls

“When we’re having to respond to an additional 16 calls in a day, and our service is already busy, they add to the work load for our staff and the level of stress they’re dealing with,” he continued. “This signals to us that something different is going on and we need everyone to be aware and be prepared.

“When it comes to the drugs, we don’t have the specifics, but it took more NarCan than usual to pull people out of their overdoses,” Terry stated.

Since Feb. 19, EMS have responded to a total of 42 overdose calls.

In some of the cases, what was initially reported as one overdose evolved to multiple people on scene requiring treatment.

Both Fire/EMS and Police are urging anyone who uses street drugs to be extra cautious.

Insp. Jason Dobirstein says while they’re not the primary responders to an overdose, they do feel some of the volume of the calls.

“We do come across overdoses on the street or at an odd disturbance call,” he said.

Dobirstein wanted to issue a warning about the drugs themselves, because there’s no quality control when it comes to illicit drugs.

“No matter what you’re told you’re buying, you have no idea what you’re actually getting. These drugs that are on the street, they’re made for profit and that’s it, so there’s a significant risk,” Dobirstein said.

The Supervised Consumption Site, where drug users can be monitored while they ingest, inject, snort or inhale their drug of choice, is scheduled to open later this week and first responders are encouraging drug users to rely on the services that will be available to ensure their safety.

Dobirstein believes when it does open up, it would have a positive impact for the community.

“If a user can go there, and it’s supervised and a safer setting than what we experienced over the weekend, I hope they use it.”

And as far as the priority for the police service moving forward?

“The priority for the police today, as it was last week and as it’s going to be again next week, is to target the suppliers. We need to make sure we stop the flow of drugs into our community, and that’s the best effort we can do,” Dobirstein stated.

Another voice on hand to discuss the number of overdoses over the weekend was Dr. Vivien Suttorp, Alberta Health Services Lead Officer of Health for the South Zone.

Dr. Suttorp said she thinks when there’s perhaps a new drug in town, you might see a spike in the amount of emergency department visits related to drug overdoses.

“Certainly, that’s what we saw this past weekend, and it puts pressure on a number of different departments, not just in the emergency department,” she said.

The rate of emergency department visits related to opioid use and other substances in the South Zone are much higher than the areas around Calgary and Edmonton, and Dr. Suttorp says there’s a number of different factors as to why.

“That number only looks at the number of visits to the ED and doesn’t include people who get treated for overdoses in the community without going to the hospital,” she continued. “It’s also impacted by the denominator, by the total population.”

She says our overall population numbers are smaller than say a large metropolis like Calgary or Edmonton, so two or three additional cases suddenly jumps our numbers higher.

“So, we have to look at the trends versus comparing exact rates.”

Police ask that anyone that’s going to use drugs, never use alone.

Have a naloxone kit available and someone who can administer it and in the event of a suspected overdose call 911 immediately.

by Aaron Mahoney (@Mahones93 on Twitter)

Emergency service personnel issue warning after spike in overdose calls

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