Fifteen patients treated mainly for overdoses at Escapade, nine taken to hospital: Paramedics

The Ottawa paramedic service said it had a busy weekend at the Escapade music festival at Lansdowne, treading 15 patients, primarily for overdoses, with nine taken to hospital.

Those in need of treatment included a 20-year-old male who needed to be resuscitated after taking GHB, a psychoactive drug popular at events like music festivals. Another 20-year-old man also needed treatment after taking GHB. Both of these events occurred on Saturday.

Last year at the same festival, Ottawa police reported five people were taken to hospital because of overdoses, none of which were life-threatening.

Ottawa paramedics, in partnership with Ottawa Health, said they had been handing out information to festival-goers in order to ensure proper safety messages were disseminated into the crowd.