Fentanyl detected in almost 88% of deaths

Report says Kelowna’s rate of fentanyl drug overdose deaths 3rd highest in the province

Fentanyl was detected in almost 88 per cent of all drug overdose deaths in Kelowna during the first 10 months of this year — the third highest percentage in the province.

The latest BC Coroners report released Monday said fentanyl-detected drug overdose deaths accounted for 58 of a total of 66 overdose deaths from Jan. 1 to Oct. 31 in Kelowna.

In all of 2016, fentanyl was detected in just over 80 per cent of all overdose deaths in Kelowna, with 38 fentanyldetected deaths out of a total 47 overdose deaths.

Langley had the highest percentage of fentanyl-detected deaths in the first 10 months of the year, with 29 out of a total of 31 overdose deaths, followed by Victoria, with 70 out of 78 overdose deaths relating to fentanyl.

Interior Health has identified Kelowna, Penticton, Vernon and Kamloops as the four places to focus on in terms of drug overdose deaths, said Rae Samson, administrator of quality practice and substance-use services for IH.

“It certainly is concerning,” Samson said of the latest drug overdose statistics. “We have to really ensure that we are supporting our services as best we can to support the clinicians that are dealing with patients on the front line.”

The Okanagan had the third-highest number of fentanyl-detected illicit drug overdose deaths in B.C., with 109 deaths in the first 10 months of the year, topped by Vancouver, with 239 deaths, and Fraser South, with 161 deaths.

The number of illicit drug overdose deaths in the Okanagan totalled 126 between Jan. 1 and Oct. 31, at a rate of 41.2 per 100,000 people, compared to 77 overdose deaths all of last year, at a rate of 21.2 per 100,000 people.

In 2016, fentanyl was detected in 62 of the 77 total overdose deaths in the Okanagan.

Across Interior Health, there were 201 overdose deaths in the first 10 months of the year, 170 of which were related to fentanyl.

In all of 2016, there were 163 overdose deaths in IH, 117 of which were related to fentanyl.

In B.C., there were 999 fentanyl-detected overdose deaths out of a total 1,208 overdose deaths from Jan. 1 to Oct. 31.

In 2016, there were 668 fentanyl-detected overdose deaths out of a total 985 overdose deaths in the province.

To combat these growing numbers and help people affected by addiction, Samson said it is important to optimize resources and have a range of options available for people living with addictions.

“I think it’s a multifactorial problem with lots of different contributors,” she said. “Certainly what we know about treating addiction is we need to treat people very holistically, looking at all their health-care needs and social needs. There’s no one intervention that will work for everyone.”

Since the inception of a mobile overdose-prevention site in Kelowna in April, which transitioned to a supervised drug-consumption site in July, there have been 7,430 visitors up until Oct. 31, 5,500 of whom have been approached by outreach workers.

“In this crisis, we’ve really seen the need to work collaboratively to help resolve it,” said Samson.