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Woman dies from suspected opioid overdose at Barton Street jail

A woman, in her 30s, is another suspected overdose victim at the Barton Street Jail. Don Mitchell / Global News

Another inmate has died after a suspected drug overdose at the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre.

Hamilton Paramedic Superintendent David Thompson says emergency services were called to the Barton Street jail shortly after 7 a.m. on Friday morning, for a report of a woman in severe medical distress from a possible opioid overdose.

Thompson says the woman, who was in her 30s, was pronounced dead at the scene.

He says paramedics were also called to the jail just 11 hours earlier, at around 8 p.m. on Thursday night, for reports of a woman in her 20s suffering from an overdose.

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That woman was taken to hospital in serious but stable condition.

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No other information about those cases is being released at this time.

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Thompson says paramedics have been dealing with a ‘spike’ in overdose calls on Friday, with emergency services also being called to three other overdoses in Hamilton, although no one else died. All of those happened to women ranging in age from their early 20s to mid-40s.

There have been eight possible opioid overdose calls at Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre this year.

Families of inmates who have died from overdoses while in correctional facilities are planning a rally outside of the Barton Street jail on April 28 at 2 p.m.

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