The heads of several large organizations are sounding the alarm over a recent, dramatic spike in drug poisonings in Belleville, Ont.
“We have a crisis in our community,” says Belleville Police Chief Mike Callaghan. “If we don’t do something about it now, people are going to die.”
It’s a stark statement from the chief on a subject, that he says, keeps him up at night. Drug poisonings have spiked in Belleville, with 90 incidents called in since last week.
“In the second week of November, the Belleville General Hospital team has provided support to 42 people who have overdosed in our community,” says Stacey Daub, president and CEO of Quinte Health.
“That’s in the first nine days.”
According to Hastings-Quinte Paramedics, the average number of overdose calls is about five to 10 per week. Last week’s record of 90 calls is over nine times higher. Of those 90, one person was reported to have died from a drug poisoning.
“Sometimes we’re having several overdoses at exactly the same time,” says Chief Callaghan.
“Not only are we taxing our emergency services, but we’re in a position where the capacity is diminished to deal with anything else.”
According to police and Hastings Prince Edward Public Health, fentanyl is playing a part in these poisonings — but another drug, GHB, is what is driving these numbers up.
GHB is more commonly known as the date-rape drug, and when mixed with opioids, can lead to overdoses and even death.
“So in particular, this would be a depressant or a central nervous system as well,” says Dr. Ethan Toumishey, medical officer of health for HPEPH.
“You can have similar manifestations of it, where people may not be as responsive, sleepy, but can also have tragic consequences.”
The heads of all the health and first responder organizations, along with the City of Belleville, will be forming a task force to combat this drug poisoning crisis the community is facing, to try and find new solutions to prevent more drug-related deaths.