Record number of 911 calls in BC due to overdoses

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – There were more overdose calls to 911 in BC over the last week than in any other week before. There were 494 calls to emergency crews in Greater Vancouver including 271 in the Downtown Eastside and 81 overdoses in Surrey.

To help deal with the fentanyl crisis, mobile bike units will start making their way through the Downtown Eastside helping people deal with overdoses.

Dr. Mark Lysyshyn with Vancouver Coastal Health says they are pairing with VANDU and the Portland Hotel Society to get on the street to train people to use naloxone and administer the life-saving medication when it’s needed. “The sooner you can get people naloxone, the more likely that they are to survive. So this is just another way to get people naloxone quickly.”

The teams will also walk the streets to pick up discarded equipment and recommend safer injection techniques to drug users. Another group of users called Spikes on Bikes has also been provided with naloxone kits and will work the Downtown Eastside on bicycles.

Lysyshyn says there will be an effort to patrol the DTES during peak using hours. “They can also train people how to use naloxone and give out kits and finally they can collect used injection equipment.”

Tom Venables is one of the paramedics who will be biking through the area. “I know the area very, very well and I’m very quick on the bike and I can access and get to calls much quicker. I can also provide more information to our dispatch. Because they get unprofessional direction and I can provide that professional direction so that they can get the right resources to the right calls. That’s an important aspect because of the limited resources that we do have.”

Paramedics are also getting a five million dollar boost from the province to help with the crisis.

Vancouver Mayor takes a ride along with emergency crews on the DTES

Gregor Robertson joined Vancouver Fire and Rescue on Wednesday and issued the following statement on the fentanyl crisis. He issued the following statement.

Even after months of talking to firefighters, police, outreach workers, drug users and health providers on the frontlines of the overdose crisis, and reading countless reports and news stories, it was shocking to see the extreme impacts of fentanyl.

Emergency responders are swamped with calls to save people who are minutes away from death. The intensity and frequency of these calls puts severe strain on our first responders. They are tirelessly and very effectively responding to emergency calls in a devastating public health crisis, saving dozens of lives a day. And they’re seeing very vulnerable people die a tragic, preventable death. This crisis is inhumane and managing it with first responders is unsustainable.

There is no single solution to this overdose crisis, as we need both immediate action to better manage this grave emergency, and long-term efforts to support treatment and prevention, address mental illness and homelessness, and go after the drug supply.

Robertson continues to urge the federal government to approve two new supervised injection sites in the city.