Paramedics responding to more overdose calls in Waterloo Region
Waterloo Region is already on track to beat last year’s record high overdose numbers.
According to the region, in 2020 there were more than 1,100 overdose calls.
So far in 2021, there were more than 1,300.
Local paramedics said they have noticed the increase in overdose calls.
“Last week was 44 overdoses. (We) had some days of 10 and 11 in a day which is high,” said Robert Crossan, deputy chief of Region of Waterloo Paramedic Services.
According to the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council, about 120 of the calls in the first 10 months of 2021 were suspected overdose deaths.
“When you have an over overdose it cuts off the oxygen to your brain and there are consequences,” said Michael Parkinson with the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council. “It’s a life and death emergency where seconds really do matter.”
Parkinson said certain groups are often impacted most when it comes to overdose deaths.
“For people on the lower income side of things, they’re dying at four sometimes five times the rate of people in upper income levels,” said Parkinson.
Local paramedics said users should remain extra cautious.
“Don’t use alone, have naloxone, use the CTS, just be safe. There’s a really strong supply out there,” Crossan said.
Starting Dec. 13, 2021, is a new initiative that will see every region of waterloo paramedic vehicle with a naloxone kit on board for public distribution.
The kits are still free at pharmacies and public health.
“Now will be able to take that friend, family member, passerby, and say use your naloxone kit. Here’s a fresh one if you need to use it again, you now have one,” said Crossan.
Experts worried the overdose numbers will continue to climb.
“Nobody can keep up: toxicologists, emergency rooms, etc.” said Parkinson.
WHERE TO FIND FREE NALOXONE KITS
Many pharmacies in Ontario and Waterloo Region carry free naloxone kits. The province has an interactive map where you can find pharmacies that carry naloxone kits.
Many agencies and groups in Waterloo, Kitchener and Cambridge, including Ontario Addiction Treatment Centres, also distribute free naloxone kits.
Some regions, including Waterloo Region, have mobile units that give out free naloxone kits.
Mobile services travel a fixed route on a fixed schedule.
Waterloo Region residents can call or text the Sanguen Health Centre's Community Health Van at 519-591-4826 for schedules, routes or to coordinate home delivery of a naloxone kit.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
2 military horses that broke free and ran loose across London are in serious condition
Two military horses that bolted and ran miles through the streets of London after being spooked by construction noise and tossing their riders were in a serious condition and required operations, a British government official said Thursday.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.