Front-line addictions workers and others concerned about the spike in opioid overdoses in B.C. got welcome news this week when federal Health Minister Jane Philpott and Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale announced legislative changes that would make it easier to open safe injection sites.
Provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall declared the growing number of overdoses – most linked to fentanyl – a public health emergency back in April, but detailed information about the impact of illicit opioid use on the Coast is hard to come by.
Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) has been tracking overdose cases brought to Sechelt Hospital since June. VCH officials told Coast Reporter this week they could only release the combined data for the group of “rural” hospitals in VCH jurisdiction: Sechelt Hospital, Bella Coola General, R.W. Large Memorial in Bella Bella, and Powell River General.
VCH rural hospitals have seen 15 drug overdose cases in the past six months, but only one was an opioid OD. One patient died.
According to VCH, those numbers are so low that breaking them down by hospital would put patients at risk of being publicly identified.
Statistics from the BC Coroners Service are grouped by health services delivery area. The Sunshine Coast is part of North Shore/Coast Garibaldi, which also includes Powell River, Squamish, North and West Vancouver, and the central coast around Bella Bella.
The Coroners Service had recorded 16 drug overdose deaths in North Shore/Coast Garibaldi between Jan. 1 and Oct. 31. Nine were the result of fentanyl overdoses.
At the October meeting of the Sunshine Coast policing committee, Staff Sgt. Vishal Mathura of Sunshine Coast RCMP said officers have been trained to administer naloxone (a drug used to reverse the effects of opioid overdose), but hadn’t yet been called to any incidents where it was needed. Naloxone kits have also been made available at the Sechelt Hospital ER, the Gibsons Health Unit, and the Mental Health and Addictions unit in Sechelt, through a program announced by VCH earlier this year.
