WINNIPEG — The Winnipeg firefighters union is launching a public awareness campaign about the dangers of fentanyl and carfentanil.
“This is becoming a tragedy, it is a crisis,” said union president Alex Forrest about the growing number of opioid overdoses firefighters are responding to.
“You have to talk to your children that this is a new issue in Winnipeg,” he said.
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Forrest said overnight shifts are sometimes seeing up to 10 overdose calls and the majority are young people between the ages of 15-20.
“We’re finding fentanyl in every kind of street or recreational drug. There is no such thing as the safe, recreational drug anymore,” said Derek Balcaen, a veteran Winnipeg fire-paramedic.
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“It absolutely hits every demographic and every part of the city,” said Balcaen.
To illustrate the point, Balcaen explained a call he was on a few weeks ago.
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His crew got an afternoon call about two intoxicated people at a popular coffee shop but when they arrived and assessed them, it became clear they weren’t drunk.
They were breathing just two or three times per minute instead of the usual 20, which led Balcaen to determine that they had actually overdosed on an opioid.
“Simply coming into contact with the same surface that the fentanyl or carfentanil might have been on at some point would be enough to put you in a hospital,” he said.
He said the job has changed in the last six months with the proliferation of fentanyl and carfentanil. Even the way fire-paramedics approach patients is different.
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“No longer is it now when you walk into a house and you see somebody on the ground your first thought isn’t to a heart attack or carbon monoxide call, now we’re thinking fentanyl overdose,” said Balcaen.
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