Alberta RCMP responded to twice the number of overdose calls in 2023 compared to previous year
CBC
Wed, December 27, 2023
Alberta RCMP said they responded to 1,026 suspected drug overdoses between January 2023 and November 2023. (CBC - image credit)
Alberta RCMP say they've seen a more than 100-per cent increase in the number of overdoses they've responded to in 2023 compared to the previous year.
On Wednesday Alberta RCMP said they were called to 1,026 suspected drug overdoses between January 2023 and November 2023, compared to 511 throughout all of 2022.
RCMP are not the only body that responds to overdose calls — local police jurisdictions including the Calgary Police Service, Edmonton Police Service and Alberta Health Services also respond to overdose calls.
"Even just in our jurisdictions, what we've had to respond to — it has gone up," said Cpl. Mathew Howell, Alberta RCMP public information officer.
According to data from the province's substance use surveillance system, between January and September 2023, 1,411 people have died of opioid poisoning deaths.
The surveillance system is updated as data is received from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
RCMP say many of the overdoses are due, in part, to Alberta's fentanyl supply being cut with other drugs that are easier and cheaper to access. That, they say, means more doses of naloxone are needed to save a person's life.
Naloxone, also known as Narcan, reverses effects of an opioid and can stop an overdose.
"We're just trying to kind of give that warning to people that there are some other aspects that we're seeing now. There's other things being mixed in. It's not always going to be your normal fentanyl dose. It's not always going to be just fentanyl," Howell said.
"Unfortunately, the fentanyl supply is so volatile and so unpredictable that people are struggling with just the dosage rates," said Euan Thomson, an independent Calgary researcher who writes the Drug Data Decoded newsletter.
He said it's hard to know exactly what is in street drugs, due to lack of regulation, but rat poison, sugars, caffeine, and benzodiazepines are all possibilities.
He added that some fentanyl poisonings do require more naloxone than they had previously, but he advised people to continue to carry and use it.
On Christmas Day, work went on for overdose prevention workers in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside
CBC
Wed, December 27, 2023
Tents are seen on the sidewalk in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside in April 2023. While some spent time with loved ones on Christmas Day, Vancouver's Overdose Prevention Society continued to work — and help save lives.
CBC
Wed, December 27, 2023
Tents are seen on the sidewalk in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside in April 2023. While some spent time with loved ones on Christmas Day, Vancouver's Overdose Prevention Society continued to work — and help save lives.
(Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press - image credit)
On Christmas Day, Trey Helten and colleagues at Vancouver's Overdose Prevention Society were still at work, helping the latest victim of what Helten says is a seasonal spike in the drug toxicity crisis.
Helten shared a photo and a story on social media on Monday describing how he and colleagues administered Naloxone to a man who had overdosed and stopped breathing on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.
"At a time of the year when it's supposed to be family togetherness, you lose someone that you care about. It can be extremely devastating,'' said Helten in an interview.
"So, the reason I posted it was just to bring awareness to it. It wasn't to be exploitive or anything. At least we prevented one family from getting a call that their loved one is deceased."
Helten's photo, shared on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, shows a man lying on the street and being tended to.
A plastic bag decorated with Santa Claus logos, that Helten said contained the man's belongings, is torn open on the ground.
Helten said the overdose prevention society runs several tents across Vancouver's Downtown Eastside neighbourhood, including one on East Hastings Street.
He said that around noon on Christmas Day, staff noticed a man on the corner "slumped over and purple,'' indicating a lack of oxygen.
Helten said they gave him shots of Naloxone. "Thankfully, he still had a pulse and we started giving him oxygen and he started vomiting,'' Helten said.
He said Vancouver Fire Rescue Services and B.C. Ambulance Service paramedics arrived and took over caring for the man.
"The last thing he remembered was taking a hit of crack cocaine or what he thought was crack cocaine. But it turns out it was fentanyl, he turned blue and overdosed,'' said Helten.
Fentanyl is pictured in January 2023 in Vancouver. Geoff Clark with the Vancouver Fire Rescue Services said crews responded to multiple overdose incidents in the Downtown Eastside on Christmas Day.
On Christmas Day, Trey Helten and colleagues at Vancouver's Overdose Prevention Society were still at work, helping the latest victim of what Helten says is a seasonal spike in the drug toxicity crisis.
Helten shared a photo and a story on social media on Monday describing how he and colleagues administered Naloxone to a man who had overdosed and stopped breathing on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.
"At a time of the year when it's supposed to be family togetherness, you lose someone that you care about. It can be extremely devastating,'' said Helten in an interview.
"So, the reason I posted it was just to bring awareness to it. It wasn't to be exploitive or anything. At least we prevented one family from getting a call that their loved one is deceased."
Helten's photo, shared on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, shows a man lying on the street and being tended to.
A plastic bag decorated with Santa Claus logos, that Helten said contained the man's belongings, is torn open on the ground.
Helten said the overdose prevention society runs several tents across Vancouver's Downtown Eastside neighbourhood, including one on East Hastings Street.
He said that around noon on Christmas Day, staff noticed a man on the corner "slumped over and purple,'' indicating a lack of oxygen.
Helten said they gave him shots of Naloxone. "Thankfully, he still had a pulse and we started giving him oxygen and he started vomiting,'' Helten said.
He said Vancouver Fire Rescue Services and B.C. Ambulance Service paramedics arrived and took over caring for the man.
"The last thing he remembered was taking a hit of crack cocaine or what he thought was crack cocaine. But it turns out it was fentanyl, he turned blue and overdosed,'' said Helten.
Fentanyl is pictured in January 2023 in Vancouver. Geoff Clark with the Vancouver Fire Rescue Services said crews responded to multiple overdose incidents in the Downtown Eastside on Christmas Day.
(Ben Nelms/CBC)
Brian Twaites, a paramedic public information officer with B.C. Emergency Health Services, said two ambulance crews responded on Hastings Street after receiving a call at noon on Christmas Day.
Twaites said paramedics cared for one patient who was taken to hospital.
Geoff Clark, Vancouver Fire Rescue Services acting assistant chief of operations, said crews responded to multiple overdose incidents in the Downtown Eastside on Christmas Day.
A seasonal increase in overdoses
Helten said the incident highlighted a "reoccurring'' issue, in which the toxic drug supply combines with the holiday season in a destructive fashion.
"Christmas is a really hard time for a lot of people and maybe some people are sad and they want to use drugs to deal with trauma and it can lead to an overdose,'' said Helten.
The B.C. Coroners Service has also warned of a seasonal increase in overdoses.
The service issued a statement in mid-December about the apparent spike, saying the province had averaged about seven deaths per day in recent weeks.
"Unregulated drug deaths in the winter months have historically increased over the numbers reported during the rest of the year, so this early increase could be a sign of another challenging season for people who use drugs in B.C.,'' it said in a news release.
Two participants in an August 2022 march marking International Overdose Awareness Day on take a break on Vancouver's East Hastings Street. The B.C. Coroners Service has warned of a seasonal increase in overdoses, saying the province had averaged about seven deaths per day in recent weeks.
Brian Twaites, a paramedic public information officer with B.C. Emergency Health Services, said two ambulance crews responded on Hastings Street after receiving a call at noon on Christmas Day.
Twaites said paramedics cared for one patient who was taken to hospital.
Geoff Clark, Vancouver Fire Rescue Services acting assistant chief of operations, said crews responded to multiple overdose incidents in the Downtown Eastside on Christmas Day.
A seasonal increase in overdoses
Helten said the incident highlighted a "reoccurring'' issue, in which the toxic drug supply combines with the holiday season in a destructive fashion.
"Christmas is a really hard time for a lot of people and maybe some people are sad and they want to use drugs to deal with trauma and it can lead to an overdose,'' said Helten.
The B.C. Coroners Service has also warned of a seasonal increase in overdoses.
The service issued a statement in mid-December about the apparent spike, saying the province had averaged about seven deaths per day in recent weeks.
"Unregulated drug deaths in the winter months have historically increased over the numbers reported during the rest of the year, so this early increase could be a sign of another challenging season for people who use drugs in B.C.,'' it said in a news release.
Two participants in an August 2022 march marking International Overdose Awareness Day on take a break on Vancouver's East Hastings Street. The B.C. Coroners Service has warned of a seasonal increase in overdoses, saying the province had averaged about seven deaths per day in recent weeks.
(Ben Nelms/CBC)
In an update issued at the end of last month, the service said unregulated drugs had claimed at least 2,039 lives in the first 10 months of the year.
It said at least 13,317 people had died due to unregulated drugs in B.C. since a public-health emergency was declared in April 2016.
The service said unregulated drug toxicity was the leading cause of death in B.C. for people aged 10 to 59, accounting for more deaths than homicides, accidents and natural disasters combined.
Helten said the numbers have been reflected in the community he loves.
"I look around on the Downtown Eastside and I just see the dwindling community," Helten said.
"Every year it gets smaller and smaller and smaller and less people around."
In an update issued at the end of last month, the service said unregulated drugs had claimed at least 2,039 lives in the first 10 months of the year.
It said at least 13,317 people had died due to unregulated drugs in B.C. since a public-health emergency was declared in April 2016.
The service said unregulated drug toxicity was the leading cause of death in B.C. for people aged 10 to 59, accounting for more deaths than homicides, accidents and natural disasters combined.
Helten said the numbers have been reflected in the community he loves.
"I look around on the Downtown Eastside and I just see the dwindling community," Helten said.
"Every year it gets smaller and smaller and smaller and less people around."
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