Warning comes after rash of overdose deaths

A rash of suspected drug overdoses over the holidays has local health officials concerned enough to alert the community.

Between Dec. 22 and Jan. 3 there were 22 hospital emergency department visits and 17 ambulance calls in Peterborough over suspected drug overdoses, according to an alert sent out on Tuesday by the local addictions treatment centre Fourcast.

Fourcast posted the alert based on data from Peterborough Public Health.

On Wednesday Peterborough Police followed up with its own alert, noting there was a surge in suspected drug poisonings over the holidays and quoting the same statistics.

The Rapid Access Addiction Medicine (RAAM) clinic, located at 159 King St. in downtown Peter borough, takes walk-in clients, city police noted.

Medical officer of health Dr. Rosana Salvaterra said at a virtual press briefing on Wednesday that poisonings may be occurring because drugs are contaminated either with fentanyl or a fentanyl derivative.

City police reported 37 suspected or confirmed opioid poisoning deaths in 2020 in their patrol territory (the City of Peterborough, as well as Lakefield and Cavan Monaghan Township), up from 30 deaths in 2019.

Meanwhile the health unit had a tally of 41 suspected drugrelated deaths in 2020 in Peterborough city and county, as of Dec. 24.

“We do not have final numbers for the whole of 2020 as of yet,” health unit communications manager Brittany Cadence wrote in an email to The Examiner on Wednesday.

Peterborough doesn’t have a supervised drug consumption and treatment centre yet, but applications have been submitted to both Health Canada (for exemption to drug laws) and to the Ontario government (for funding) to add those services to the opioid hub in the former Greyhound station on Simcoe Street downtown.

PARN and the 360 Degree Nurse Practitioner Led Clinic would run those services; they expect to hear back about their applications in a few months.

Both the Fourcast and Peterborough Police recommend the following in their alerts:

> Always have someone with you when using drugs.

> If using with a friend, do not use at the exact same time.

> If using alone, have a plan. Ask someone to check on you. or call the Ontario OD prevention line at 1-888-853-8542.

> Carry a Naloxone kit. Keep it visible and close by.

> Avoid mixing drugs.

> Test drugs by using a small amount first.

> Call 911 immediately if someone starts to show signs of an overdose.