Public alerted to potent street drugs after Lethbridge swamped with overdoses
Lethbridge emergency officials say they responded to 12 overdose calls from Monday evening to Tuesday morning — in the wake of another 42 overdoses since Feb. 19.
Dana Terry, deputy chief of support services with Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services, said while the city has seen overdose numbers increase over the past few years, the current frequency of calls is “really significant.” Last Friday, emergency responders were called to 16 overdoses in one day.
“This has definitely been an anomaly for us to see this many calls in such a short time period,” Terry said.
Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services, along with Lethbridge police, issued a public warning Monday about the increase in overdoses, linking it to a potent batch of street drugs that they suspect to be carfentanil.
Terry said staff have administered a higher amount of opioid antidote naloxone to resuscitate patients than ever before.
He said drug users need to be aware of the elevated risk and to be careful by not using alone and to have a naloxone kit, and someone who knows how to use it, present.
A supervised consumption site, where people can ingest, inject, snort or inhale drugs under medical supervision, is scheduled to open in Lethbridge later this week.
Acting Insp. Farica Syrette with the Blood Tribe Police Service said police in the community also saw an “extreme spike” in overdose calls that started Friday night.
“We did a call out to the community on Saturday afternoon, asking people to check on their vulnerable loved ones because we identified very quickly that the increase in fentanyl overdoses was very concerning,” said Syrette.
“As a community, we are working together to determine the next steps in battling this problem,” said Syrette.
“But from a policing standpoint, we’re in the position right now where we require assistance from the community, by way of information on the sale or import of illicit drugs.”
In an alert posted online Monday, Blood Tribe Administration said the community experienced 14 fentanyl- or carfentanil-related overdoses since Friday.
Administration said officials met with chief and council in response to the spike in overdoses.
“Officials advise that there is a particularly potent strain of opioid that is affecting not only our community, but surrounding communities, as well,” a statement posted Monday evening indicated.
News of the spiking southern Alberta overdose numbers comes as the federal budget tabled in Ottawa on Tuesday outlined a $231-million package of steps that aims to confront Canada’s escalating opioid crisis.
Provinces and territories will receive $150 million in emergency funding this year to deal with an opioid crisis that’s projected to claim more than 4,000 lives this year.
The balance of the $231.4 million will go toward public education campaigns, better access to public health data, expansion of Health Canada’s substance use and addictions program, and new equipment and tools to allow border agents to better detect opioids before they enter the country.
The budget also contains $200 million over the next five years “to enhance the delivery of culturally appropriate addictions treatment and prevention services in First Nations communities with high needs.”