New statistics from the show drug overdoses have become a near-daily occurrence in the community, with fire chief Rory Thompson projecting 350 incidents by the end of 2017.
Thompson reported the latest numbers to 91原创 City Council on Monday.
鈥淭his is not just a 91原创 problem,鈥� Thompson told council.
鈥淭his is a problem across Greater Vancouver, it鈥檚 a problem across British Columbia (and) Canada, in fact North America.鈥�
The fire department figures show there were 80 overdose calls in the City in 2015, 228 overdose calls in 2016, 270 so far this year, and at the current pace, there will be about 350 by the end of 2017.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a problem that we don鈥檛 see any abatement in, in the near future,鈥� Thompson said.
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All City firefighters, including paid on-call firefighters, have been trained in the administration of the anti-overdose naloxone drug (91原创 RCMP have also been trained).
Previously, the 91原创 City fire chief reported different combinations of drugs are being seen on the street, including fentanyl, a synthetic drug that is extremely potent and considered the main cause of the spike in overdose cases.
The 91原创 RCMP have reported Carfentanil, a synthetic, large animal sedative that is far more powerful than fentanyl, has been seen in the 91原创s by drug enforcement investigators who have seized it from local drug dealers.
Carfentanil, which can be fatal in very small amounts when it is used as an additive to street drugs, is believed to have first arrived in Metro Vancouver in November 2016.
In January, tests confirmed its presence in drug treatment centres in Vancouver, Surrey, New Westminster, Maple Ridge and Richmond.
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Deaths from drug overdoses have been averaging more than 100 a month in B.C. since 2016.
Figures from the BC Coroners Service show the proportion of illicit drug deaths where fentanyl was detected continues to climb. Last year, roughly 60 per cent of these deaths included fentanyl, but that number has risen to 72 per cent by early this year.
Figures from the 91原创 Township fire department suggest, based on the number of calls to assist BC ambulance with suspected overdoses, there has been a 48 per cent increase in such calls from 2016 to 2017.
There were 113 such calls in 2016, and there have been 123 so far this year.
Last year, there were no incidents where Township firefighters had to use naloxone. This year so far, there have been 21.
Workload gets bigger
The 91原创 City fire department report also noted that the overall number of calls has risen steadily over the years, from between 500 and 600 calls per quarter in 2011, to between 700 and 800 per quarter this year.
鈥淚t鈥檚 getting up there,鈥� Thompson said, adding there did not appear 鈥渁t first blush鈥� to be any single cause to explain the increase, but the service was planning to take a closer look at the statistics.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to do a bit more research,鈥� Thompson said.
dan.ferguson@langleytimes.com
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