Vancouver Fire has responded to over 6,000 overdose calls this year: city

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The ongoing opioid epidemic is showing no signs of slowing down and there is further proof of just how out of control the issue is.

The City of Vancouver says the fire department has been called to more than 6,000 overdose calls this year alone — that’s apparently up 28 per cent from last year and there’s still nearly a month left in 2017. And as it usually does, the number of reports is taking a toll on all first responders — police and paramedics included — working the frontlines.


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The city says from November 27th to December 3rd, Vancouver Fire responded to 81 overdose calls.

“The strategies implemented by VF&RS such as more frequent rotation of staff through the most impacted hall, and the addition of a second medic unit, have made the workload manageable, but further increases could leave us searching for new ways to provide care to those in need, and to keep our staff healthy and safe. Most troubling has been the increase in overdose calls and overdose deaths outside of the Downtown Eastside,” says Vancouver Fire Captain Jonathan Gormick. “People in our community are needlessly dying because they don’t have naloxone, or because they are using alone. It is critical that anyone who uses any kind of drug that did not come from a pharmacy have a naloxone kit, and notify someone when they use. The tragedy of dying a preventable death far outweighs the stigma of speaking openly about drug use.”

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson says he will continue to demand help from other levels of government. “We will continue to push hard for significant investments and a coordinated national response by all orders of government — including other municipalities, federal and provincial governments and First Nations — to end this tragic epidemic.”

Last week, the provincial government announced details of a new Overdose Emergency Response Centre to deal with the overdose crisis.

Earlier this year, the BC Coroners Service confirmed the number of drug-related deaths recorded this year, had outpaced all of last year’s statistics.

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