BC Paramedics responded to more than 35,000 overdose calls last year – the highest amount ever recorded.
In Port Alberni, overdose calls were up 30% from 213 in 2020 to 302 in 2021.
Across BC, the average increase is 31%, with communities like Courtenay pushing up the average with a 127% increase in overdose calls.
Local ambulance manager Bruce Patterson says paramedics are administering more Naloxone than ever before, due to the potency and toxicity of drugs.
“In the past when it was heroin overdoses it would be one or two doses of Naloxone to reverse the effects, and now we’re seeing multiples of that,” he said. “We’re seeing sometimes, three, four, sometimes even more doses required si it’s really upped the amount of Naloxone used, and the amount of time needed to stay at the scene to reverse the overdose.”
Patterson says the actual number of overdoses in Port Alberni are higher than what the BC Government reported yesterday, since they don’t include the overdose prevention site statistics.
He said when BCEHS paramedics respond to a potential overdose, the patient has a 95 per cent chance of survival, and the vast majority of overdose deaths happen when people use alone because there is no one to call 9-1-1.
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