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The latest surge in suspected opioid overdoses in Hamilton coincides with warnings about a new variation of contaminated fentanyl.
Since the start of May, figures show that Hamilton paramedics have responded to about 250 suspected overdoses, an increase of about 25 per cent compared to the same time frame last year.
For the first six months of 2023, there was a 43 per cent increase to a total of 512 such incidents, up from 358 from January through June 2022.
Deputy chief of paramedic operations Russell Crocker indicates “potency” is a factor in the suspected overdoses.
“Sometimes the manufacturers are making it much more potent, and for people that are used to a certain level, they accidentally overdose based off of that,” Crocker explained.
“There’s also now the mixing of multiple drugs in the one drug, so sometimes you’ll see something like a fentanyl opioid being mixed with a benzodiazepine.”
Current concerns for first responders surround the distribution of Yellow Down, a volatile street drug leaving users unconscious and less responsive to medication designed to reverse an opioid overdose.
“For example, if you have a mixing of fentanyl with benzodiazepine, Narcan doesn’t actually have an effect on the volume. It would only have an effect on the fentanyl half of that,” said Crocker.
Hamilton has one approved safe consumption site, operated by Hamilton Urban Core Community Health, located at 70 James St. It’s set to be relocated to 430 Cannon St. E., upon completion of a new building.
Crocker says protocols at a CTS site involve front-line ambulances and social navigator paramedics who distribute “sterile consumption supplies.”
Paramedics do distribute naloxone to individual family members or loved ones in the general community on occasion for emergencies.
He says a 9-1-1 call should always be first, before using naloxone, particularly if an individual has consumed an extra potent dose.
“In the absence of a safe injection site, we always recommend that people use with somebody that they know to be equipped with a Narcan kit and knows what to do in the case of an accidental overdose,” Crocker said.
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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