Overdose Numbers Slip
Prince George, B.C. – There is some encouraging news on the fentanyl overdose crisis which has reached Prince George.
Dr. Andrew Gray, Northern Health Medical Health Officer for the Interior, says the number of overdose cases this past weekend have dropped to one third of what had been experienced two weeks ago. That’s not to say the crisis is over, but the decline is some positive news in what has been labeled a national health crisis.
Two weekends ago, the University Hospital of Northern B.C. received 12 overdose patients . All were successfully treated. The following weekend, that number slipped to eight cases, and this past weekend the number of cases dropped to four. “It does seem to be declining, but it is still higher than what we used to see” says Dr. Gray.
Typically, the hospital sees about one or two cases a week.
Dr. Gray says it isn’t clear if the decline is a result of the message getting out about the risk of fentanyl, or if the local supply has simply dried up “It’s really difficult to say, those explanations are probably contributing to a certain extent but we don’t have direct information on what the supply currently is and that’s not something we are able to monitor directly. As far as the word getting out, the word on the street does tend to get out pretty quickly regardless and we think people were already being as cautious as they could even before this this occurred, so it’s difficult to know for sure what the drivers are.”
Northern Health has advised those who use illicit drugs to take some precautions such as making sure they don’t use alone, by having naloxone on hand, by having someone on hand who can recognize the signs of overdose and intervene by calling 9-1-1 and performing CPR .
All emergency responders have been provided with naloxone and just last week, Prince George RCMP saved a life when they administered naloxone to an unresponsive male on a Chief Lake road property ( see previous story) .
Comments
In Calgary 14 year old found parents dead from drug overdose. There are three younger siblings, youngest 4.
In the article it has this ““Indicating that these were not drug traffickers … it appears as though they were users,” said Hatchette. “True victims.”
True victims that has to be the most idiotic statement ever.
Bunch of scumbags , good riddance. Those kids were doomed from the beginnning.
Leroy , are you spouting good old time christian values there?
mfkr!
These statements show why keeping a thumbs up, thumbs down count is a good idea. Some people just have no idea what are publicly acceptable thoughts. Ever heard of “do not speak ill of the dead?”
What is sickening is that these two adults selfishly kept their addiction going and by doing so abused their children. This sickens me.
I really hope these kids now have a better life.
They were addicts?
we are not all perfect.
Second that!!!!
The only reason the numbers are slipping is because the drug dealers have found this batch to potent. I wouldn’t doubt if there pulling the drugs to add more buff!
The doctors are at fault for this epidemic. They were over prescribing opiates to patients creating dependency. When the college of physicians and Surgeons cracked down on the issue it left thousands of people in a predicament
hey look a chemtrail..
Hmmm, here I thought the people that are supplying the deadly stuff were to blame.
A distinct lack of empathy is apparent in the above comments.
Calling the dead parents ugly names only reveals suspicion of the people proclaiming their superiority over the less fortunate.
Not all of the dead (from overdose) are the type of people that some of you like to demean. Some of those people became addicted due to over prescription of opioid pain killers during an illness or severe injury,
were they scum?
Others were recreational users,
were they scum?
Probably few of those who have died from overdose were what some of you call ‘scum’
The only scumbags in this situation are those who purvey these drugs in the interest of profit.
With this latest epidemic of overdose, in your criticism you might well be talking about someone you know.
In any event, it is far too soon for the glory seeking establishment and the media to be proclaiming that overdoses are on the decline. I mean really, a couple of weeks?
metalman.
Thank you, I am not a drug user, I am not a smoker, I barely even get a chance to get a good drunk.
Just because a person smokes a joint, or does recreational drugs, does not make that person a scum bag or a dead beat. your statement of “their superiority over the less fortunate” is so true. Thank you for your intelligence in the matter.
Agreed Metalman; A variety of comments on this subject discussion thread today ranging from the truly sociopathic to the moderately ignorant.
The cause of Canada’s Fentanyl crisis has been sourced to China, which is where the majority of Fentanyl sold on our streets is manufactured and shipped from. Fentanyl is so powerful, it is usually cut into other drugs such as heroin and ecstasy to “boost” the high.
Overdose victims who show up in hospital emergency rooms come from a variety of backgrounds; some are teenagers from affluent neighbourhoods, others are poverty stricken seniors. These people are not scumbag addicts, most are recreational drug users, taking their recreational drugs in their usual manner in their regular amounts, NOT KNOWING their recreational drugs are laced with Fentanyl. These are victims, and death is all-to-often the result.
Ignorance is a choice, you can choose to better inform yourself about this Fentanyl Crisis, by reading and learning, or you can spout off in your usual manner, the choice has always been yours to make.
ht tp://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/how-fentanyl-is-getting-through-canadas-border/article29547443/
Agreed also with Metalman.
Personal arms length experience here..A close friend of mines teenage son tried smoking pot for the first time and it was laced with fentanyl..It almost killed him and he spent quite a bit of time in the hospital. The kid is your typical average middle class teenager and comes from a good family background and not addicted to drugs or alcohol.
People seem to forget that drugs don’t discriminate between social status, race, age ect ect..It can happen to anyone..This fentanyl is a game changer though and should be taken very seriously based on its toxicity..When you have first responders getting knocked down by it you know its serious.
why are the drug dealers doing this, why kill off there customers. why, why, why. senseless deaths.
maybe some of the drug dealers have stopped distribution of the products so they don’t kill off the customers. Maybe, the dealers didn’t even know it was a loaded drug.
Where is it coming from, Is it a part of the drug wars, where the users are pawns in their games. Than you pay a higher price for the drugs, for quality control and assurance, down the road.
get into drugs, its like playing with a loaded gun.
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