On the heels of the highest number of overdose-related 911 calls ever recorded in B.C. last month, Health Minister Terry Lake said a number of overdose prevention sites are set to open in the Lower Mainland.
“We are seeing an alarming increase in illicit drug overdose deaths and action is required at all levels to saves lives,” Lake said.
“The overdose prevention sites will ensure that people have a place where they can be safely monitored and treated immediately if they overdose.”
The first two overdose prevention sites opened today on Hastings Street at the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) and the Portland Hotel Needle Depot. Another two locations will open next week in Victoria at Our Place (919 Pandora Avenue) and Johnson Street Community (844 Johnson Street).
“We are seeing unprecedented tragedy with the overdose crisis and it’s putting extreme pressure on Vancouver first responders and front line workers. These new overdose prevention sites and mobile medic unit will help provide relief that is desperately needed,” Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said.
Two more sites will be opening in Surrey next week at the Quibble Creek Sobering and Assessment Centre and the other at the mobile medical support unit on 135A Street. Several more sites will be opening this month in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES) and Victoria’s Rock Bay area.
Sarah Blyth, a volunteer with the Overdose Prevention Society, which is operating two pop-up tents on the DTES, applauds the province’s decision.
All the sites chosen by the province were identified as areas with high numbers of overdoses. Each site will provide illicit drug users a safe space to be monitored and have teams of trained staff armed with naloxone.
Along with additional sites, the BC Mobile Medical Unit will be setting up in the DTES starting Dec. 13. The mobile unit will alleviate some of the pressure on the emergency departments at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, which currently sees the majority of overdose patients in the city, and allow paramedics to avoid waiting in the ER and instead respond quicker to 911 calls.
B.C. paramedics responding to high number of overdose-related calls
Between Nov. 17 and 23, B.C. paramedics responded to 494 suspected overdose and poisoning calls in Greater Vancouver, including 271 in the Downtown Eastside and 81 in Surrey.
By comparison, in the entire 2015, there were 474 illicit drug overdoses in B.C., which was a 30 per cent increase from 2014. These numbers prompted the B.C. government to provide five million dollars in funding to paramedics and dispatchers to help them fight the crisis.
“Our paramedics are feeling tremendous pressure as they respond to this public health emergency on the front lines,” Lake said at the time of the funding announcement.
“We know they have saved thousands of lives in this crisis, and today we are making sure they are supported in this daunting task with needed resources. We are working with many others including harm reduction and addictions experts, police, the coroner and the federal government to find solutions, but in the meantime, we must make sure patients get the care they need.”
Drug overdose deaths continue to rise in B.C.
Despite an emergency call and the approval of naloxone kits, the number of illicit drug deaths in B.C. continues to rise this year at a rate of about two each day, according to the latest statistics released by the BC Coroners Service.
Tracking numbers for the first 10 months of 2016, the number of illicit drug overdoses was 622, compared to 397 for the same period last year. The total number of illicit drug deaths in October was 63, up from 57 in September. These numbers continue to follow a trend seen in a previous report released by the BC Coroners in October that showed there were 555 accidental drug overdose deaths in the province from January through September 2016.
The coroner says fentanyl still remains a major contributor to the high number of deaths. This year, from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, there were a total of 332 cases where fentanyl was found, which translates to about 60 per cent of all illicit drug deaths. That number is almost triple the number of fentanyl-detected deaths for the same time frame last year.
The overdose prevention sites are the province’s latest steps in attempting to address the opioid overdose crisis.
In July 2016, Premier Christy Clark appointed a Joint Task Force on Overdose Response, headed by Provincial Health Officer Dr. Perry Kendall and Director of Police Services Clayton Pecknold.
The B.C. government has committed to opening 500 new substance use treatment beds in 2017.
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