Fentanyl continues deadly toll on Niagara
EMS responds to 335 suspected opioid overdoses in first half of 2019
The latest figures on Niagara’s opioid crisis are in — and the numbers aren’t encouraging.
In the first half of 2019, Niagara Emergency Medical Services paramedics responded to 335 suspected opioid overdoses for an average of 56 calls a month. Projected out, it would mean about 672 calls for the year.
That’s compared to 2018, when there were 496 suspected opioid overdoses to which EMS responded. That’s an average of 41 calls a month, Dr. Andrea Feller, Niagara’s associate medical officer of health, wrote July 26 in a report sent to regional councillors.
Glen Walker is executive director of Positive Living Niagara and oversees StreetWorks, a harmreduction program that provides safer injection and inhalation supplies to addicts.
He said it’s no secret that fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that is similar to morphine but is 50 to 100 times more potent, has been a game-changer.
“It is very risky, and we don’t see a plateau in terms of overdoses that would give us some encouragement.
“We are still in the midst of the crisis, and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight.”
The death toll continues to mount. In 2016 there were 40 opioid overdose deaths in Niagara, or about three a month. In 2017 the number increased to 74, or about six a month.
Up to the end of September 2018, there were 68 opioid overdose deaths for the year, an average of eight deaths a month.
“The frustrating part is we have no control over the supply,” Walker said. “A lot of us are working on what to do after overdoses have occurred — and when someone is motivated — how we can get them into treatment,” Walker said.
“There is a lot activity going on in those areas. The challenge is how do you put a cap on the number of overdoses when you have no control over what people are taking. There isn’t going to be one solution. It will have to be multi-faceted.
“We work really hard to get the message out to clients to be really careful and make sure you are using with somebody.
“People are still using alone, and that’s sad to see. If you overdose and you are alone your fate is sealed.”
Harm-reduction programs such as StreetWorks are underpinned by a premise that refuses to treat people who use drugs as expendable. The programs end up linking drug users to the health and social services system, which can provide a gateway to addiction treatment.
In the first quarter of the year, Naloxone kits, which contain a drug that can temporarily stop the effects of opioids, were reportedly used more than 290 times in Niagara, or about 97 times a month.
The number is up from 2018, when Naloxone kits were reportedly used more than 1,000 times, or about 83 times a month.