Coroners service says overdose deaths continue at alarming rate

Sep 21, 2016 | 1:07 PM

KAMLOOPS — The overdose crisis has been slowing down in Kamloops, with only one reported death since the end of June. But the threat of overdoses on a daily basis is still occupying a lot of time and resources at places like ASK Wellness. 

“It’s been really hard on the agency,” says Kira Haug. “Every day, we’re hoping to get through it without losing someone. It’s good news there’s been a decrease. I’d love to see a bigger decrease. I don’t know how we get there.”

According to the B.C. Coroners’ Service, there have been 23 overdose deaths in Kamloops involving illicit drugs as of August 3, although ASK Wellness knows of at least three more that have happened in the last 10 days.

Hundreds more could have died from drug overdoses if not for naloxone kits.

“I’ve had some clients say to me that they’ve done at least four or five overdose reversals in the last few months,” says Haug. “So having this valuable medication available to folks has made a huge difference.”

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On Wednesday, at a news conference in Vancouver, B.C.’s Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe revealed that 488 people have died in B.C. this year from overdoses. 60% of the deaths across the province have been due to fentanyl, many happening through cocaine use. 

“There’s been a few incidents of that in Kamloops. It’s not something I’m hearing a lot about on the street,” Haug notes. “I think you’re looking at a difference demographic of folks that use those drugs.”

ASK Wellness says the crisis is the worse than ever before. But the threat of overdose hasn’t fully registered with some users.

“We’re not seeing people decrease their use of opiods, heroin and fentanyl. In some cases, I’ve heard stories from the street where somebody overdoses and the people around them were like, ‘where did he get his stuff?” Thinking they are maybe more seasoned.”

While Haug says naloxone has been a life-saver, she says part of the solution lies in safe injection sites, where users are properly supervised, as well as more affordable housing. 

B.C. ‘cautiously optimistic’ about fewer opioid deaths after massive effort

VANCOUVER — British Columbia is bombarding the province with thousands of overdose-reversing naloxone kits as part of an all-out assault against a drug crisis that has killed 488 people so far this year.

Health Minister Terry Lake said Wednesday during an update on the opioid emergency that 13,000 life-saving kits have been distributed cost-free to nearly 300 sites across B.C., including emergency departments, public-health units and provincial and federal correctional facilities.

Newly released data from the provincial coroners’ service show the number of deaths involving illicit drugs decreased to 49 in August from 55 the previous month, though the 488 fatalities so far this year have nearly overtaken the 505 deaths reported for all of 2015.

“(August) marks the first month of 2016 where the number was reduced over the equivalent month in 2015, but we are very, very cautious about what that means,” Lake told a news conference.

“We need more data, more time to see if there’s a trend happening.”

Over 11,000 people have been trained to administer naloxone, including first responders such as police officers and firefighters.

“All ambulance crews and 46 fire departments are now carrying naloxone,” Lake said, adding the B.C. Centre for Disease Control is expanding its take-home naloxone program and that the province expects to reach its goal of opening 500 new addiction treatment beds by 2017.

The number of drug deaths where fentanyl was detected between Jan. 1 and July 31 of this year has remained strong at 264, or around 55 per cent of total illicit drug deaths. That’s more than three times the 82 fentanyl-related deaths that occurred over the same period last year.

“Thirty-six per cent of fentanyl deaths also involved cocaine, which is frightening, because we know there are people who thought they were taking cocaine and had absolutely no idea they were taking fentanyl,” Lisa Lapointe, B.C.’s chief coroner, told the news conference.

Fentanyl continues to take an exceptionally high toll, she added.

“We must all work together to try and reduce that toll, which is predominantly affecting young people and people who should have many more years of life ahead of them,” said Lapointe.

“Despite the small decrease in the number of deaths in August, the last thing we would want is for anyone to become complacent or think that the danger is over or that the risks are diminished.”

British Columbia has been the epicentre of opioid deaths in Canada, and the province declared a public health emergency in April, after which the coroner’s service began collecting and releasing monthly statistics on overdose deaths.

While Vancouver has seen the highest number of deaths in the province this year, the fatality rate has remained consistent since last year. The same can’t be said for other B.C. municipalities such as Kamloops, where the number of fatalities has spiked more than five times higher.

In June, Premier Christy Clark announced a joint task force on overdose response.

“It’s a massive effort,” Lake said, adding that overdose deaths involving fentanyl have hit communities across North America.

“People have been reaching out to British Columbia to learn about what we’re doing,” he said.

Earlier Wednesday, the chief medical health officer of Vancouver Coastal Health said the city could see as many as four new supervised-injection sites by early next year.

Dr. Patricia Daly said the health authority is applying to Health Canada to expand the number of harm-reduction sites in its area, where there are currently two such facilities. Insite, in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, was North America’s first supervised injection site.

Daly said she hoped the sites will be up and running by early 2017.

Applying to offer safe-injection services became especially difficult in early 2015 after the previous federal government passed a bill that added several prohibitive regulations.

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Geordon Omand, The Canadian Press