‘Fatigue and stress’: Interior paramedics responded to over 5k overdose, poisoning calls in 2022 | 24CA News

BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) has launched its annual stats on the variety of overdose and poisoning calls paramedics have been dispatched to.

The numbers present that all through B.C., the decision volumes have been down final 12 months, however that lower was led by the Vancouver Coastal Health and Fraser Health areas.

In the Interior, overdose and poisoning calls have been up 9 % in 2022 to greater than 5,900.

Brian Twaites, a spokesperson for BCEHS, stated the info is an indication of the pervasiveness of the poisonous drug disaster across the province.

“A lot of people automatically think drug overdose [and] Downtown Eastside or a sketchy end of town, but I like to use the analogy of a white picket fence. It is in anybody’s home in anybody’s community. We are seeing it all over the province,” stated Twaites.

Overdose and drug poising calls additionally rose in Kelowna to greater than 1,800 final 12 months.

It’s the most important annual name quantity for town for the reason that public well being emergency was declared in 2016.

Out of all B.C. communities, Kelowna had the fourth most overdose and poisoning calls within the province final 12 months.

Calls have been additionally up in Vernon (513) and West Kelowna (213) in 2022 however down barely in Penticton (661).

For Interior Health medical well being officer Dr. Carol Fenton, the stats mirror the truth that the drug provide within the Interior and round B.C. continues to be “highly poisonous.”

“We just put out two separate toxic drug alerts yesterday specifically for Cranbrook and Penticton. We know that the street drug supply is toxic across the region,” Fenton stated.

Fenton stated she couldn’t speculate on why the overdose/poisoning calls are rising within the Interior and dropping within the Vancouver Coastal Health and Fraser Health areas.

However, the medical well being officer stated tackling the poisonous drug disaster is a prime precedence for Interior Health.

“In the short term, it helps if communities are supportive when we roll out overdose prevention services, which is a reaction to the realities of the toxic drug supply, and in the long term we need to see more policy change like the upcoming decriminalization that is happening in B.C. next week,” Fenton stated.

Meanwhile, the president of the union representing paramedics stated the continued excessive quantity of overdose calls takes a toll.

“We know we do a tough job and we are there to help, but it definitely has an impact on our wellness. There is no question it wears on you,” stated Troy Clifford, the president of Ambulance Paramedics and Emergency Dispatchers of B.C.

“Definitely, in many communities, we go to work knowing that we are probably going to see an overdose or multiple overdoses in a shift and that puts a lot of fatigue and stress not only on the paramedics and the first responders but on the families.”

BCEHS acknowledges the overdose disaster is a tough state of affairs to take care of day by day and says its vital incident stress program is there to assist.

“Quite often a call will get flagged, even before the paramedics make it to the call, that it is a possibility that this may be a high-stress incident and they get contacted by one of their peer debriefers within 24 hours to check in on them to make sure they are doing okay,” stated Twaites.

Twaites is urging the general public to not use medication alone and suggests in case you do use medication by your self, it’s best to use the Lifeguard app.

He stated the free cellphone app permits you to enter your location deal with and set a timer.

“If you become unresponsive because of a drug poisoning, if you don’t respond to the timer, it will automatically contact our emergency dispatch center and paramedics will get dispatched right away,” Twaites stated.

“Fifty-six lives have been saved in British Columbia with the Lifegaurd app.”

BCEHS stated the overdose/poisoning knowledge “covers all poisonous medication, which might additionally embrace doable poisonings by alcohol or different substances, such because the ingestion of family cleaners.

“However, the data primarily captures toxic illicit drugs.”

&copy 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.