Province-wide, there were 33,654 calls last year, which was a five-per-cent decrease from the year before. It’s the first time since 2016 that the number has gone down; prior to the toxic drug crisis, call volumes fluctuated between 10,000 and 15,000 per year.
“It's a very critical call to deal with and you really do need all hands on deck,” said BC EHS communications officer and veteran paramedic Brian Twaites.
“These patients are unconscious, they're not breathing, so that's a real emergency and don't hesitate to phone.”
While Vancouver and Surrey both saw reductions of 22 per cent, Victoria saw four per cent more, Kelowna rose 15 per cent, and Abbotsford saw a 20 per cent spike in calls for help with overdoses or toxic drug consumption.
DEATH RATE NOT DECLINING
The numbers are jarring considering B.C. is on track for another record year of drug-poisoning deaths.
One of the province’s most prominent drug analysts says the years-long campaign to provide and train people in the use of the overdose antidote, naloxone, is starting to have a big impact in urban areas.
“People helping each other is making the biggest difference,” said Karen Ward. “It’s difficult to think about how you could intervene … make sure someone you trust knows you’re using.”
The BC Coroners Service regularly provides information about where people are dying from illicit drug toxicity, and the data hasn’t changed: slightly more than half of all deaths are in private homes, with roughly a quarter in group living settings like supportive housing.
On Monday, federal government representatives will join with their provincial counterparts to discuss the decriminalization of several illicit drugs this week – a move intended to curb the death toll and widely supported by health-care professionalsand police.
DRUGS CHANGE QUICKLY, THE RESPONSE DOESN'T
When CTV News spoke with Ward in Gastown, she noted the toxic drug crisis had been running for 2,481 days and the drug supply has only become more unpredictable and volatile. She described it as “a toxic soup of random chemicals.”
More than 10,000 people have died in those years, and the province has appointed a minister of mental health and addictions to show its commitment to helping people. At the same time, however, it has struggled to ramp up the availability of treatment options, safe supply, and the housing that advocates and researchers repeatedly insist is the foundation for a healthier lifestyle that’s more conducive to recovery.
When CTV News pointed out that the drugs change a lot faster than the strategy to respond to them, Ward agreed and added that even the symptoms of overdose have changed based on the most prevalent drugs in each wave of the crisis.
“There is a need to be able to adjust and adapt really quickly, but we're not addressing it in a timely, emergency-oriented way,” she said.
Both Ward and Twaites reiterated the best ways to survive an encounter with toxic drugs: avoiding using alone, having naloxone handy, testing drugs if possible, and even using an app as a backup.
“Always call 911 if you see someone who you think is having a drug overdose,” said Twaites. “Our call-takers can walk you through those steps of giving naloxone, maybe they need chest compressions for cardiac arrest – they can teach you how to do that over the phone while fire department, first responders and paramedics are being dispatched.”
Canada needs a 'Conservative renaissance,' former prime minister Stephen Harper said Wednesday, but he cautioned that Pierre Poilievre should wait until an election before telling Canadians how he might run the country.
U.S. President Joe Biden is coming to Canada Thursday evening, kicking off his short but long-awaited overnight official visit to Canada. Here's what CTV News has confirmed about what will be on the agenda, and what key players are saying about the upcoming visit.
Canada's Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman says the country’s relationship with its American counterparts required rebuilding after the Trump administration.
WW International appears set to close dozens of its roughly 118 WeightWatchers locations across Canada on March 26 in what may be part of a restructuring strategy.
The death toll from last week's massive fire in Old Montreal has risen to four, Montreal police confirmed Wednesday evening. Julien Levesque, a police spokesperson, said a third and fourth bodies have been retrieved from the building. They will be sent to a laboratory to be formally identified.
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) says it receives tens of thousands of complaints from consumers across Canada each year, but once in a while a "quirky" one will take them by surprise.
The Canadian real estate market has been sluggish since last year, when prospective buyers started putting off plans to purchase homes as the Bank of Canada aggressively hiked interest rates eight consecutive times. But realtors see many edging toward a purchase once more.
A well-known historic site and museum in Victoria is closing its doors due to what it calls a lack of funding. On Wednesday morning, Point Ellice House Museum and Gardens announced it was closing down effective immediately.
More than $100,000 worth of vaping products have been seized by Saanich police detectives who say the items were being marketed and sold at schools throughout B.C.'s capital region.
A new political poll surveying Albertans ahead of May's provincial election shows a deep divide within the province, with the governing United Conservative Party and Alberta's New Democrats fighting neck and neck for support.
Wearing her husband's police jacket, Ashley Ryan walked to centre ice at a charity hockey game in Spruce Grove, Alta., Wednesday night. She, a paramedic, then dropped the puck on the matchup that Brett was planning to referee.
Wearing her husband's police jacket, Ashley Ryan walked to centre ice at a charity hockey game in Spruce Grove, Alta., Wednesday night. She, a paramedic, then dropped the puck on the matchup that Brett was planning to referee.
Alberta's premier assured a ballroom of rural leaders Wednesday that she does not want to see the province move away from electricity generated from fossil fuels, while complaining about solar panels covering farm land.
An Ontario mother and father say their four-year-old was recently diagnosed with a brain tumour after doctors believed his symptoms were a flu-like virus for months.
A Toronto man who was shot multiple times by a police officer while he was walking his dog last month says more could have been done to de-escalate the situation that almost left him dead.
The death toll from last week's massive fire in Old Montreal has risen to four, Montreal police confirmed Wednesday evening. Julien Levesque, a police spokesperson, said a third and fourth bodies have been retrieved from the building. They will be sent to a laboratory to be formally identified.
The mayor of Montreal says she only had two requests of the Quebec government and one of them was ignored. Despite new buildings going up in Montreal, Mayor Valerie Plante says it's harder than ever for some people to find a place to live.
The Government of Saskatchewan is committing over $20 million for online learning as part of its record $3.1 billion education budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year.
Saskatchewan’s healthcare spending will rise to record levels in the 2023-24 provincial budget but, after adjusting for inflation, critics say the boost is weaker than advertised.
The Government of Saskatchewan is committing over $20 million for online learning as part of its record $3.1 billion education budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year.
A Transportation Safety Board of Canada report has linked the fatal sinking of a Nova Scotia scallop dragger in 2020 to years of federal inaction on the imposition of stricter stability standards for fishing vessels.
It is what many people consider a safe space, secure in the confines of their own vehicle, but a stabbing on Richmond Row may have changed that for many. It happened around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon as a driver in a southbound car was waiting for a train to cross Richmond Street, just south of Piccadilly Street.
Despite the building boom in Hyde Park, one high profile development remains a bust with city staff. The planning department is once again recommending refusal of a rezoning application by York Developments.
Hundreds of students across London, Ont. and Middlesex have been suspended from school for not being up to date on their vaccinations. Notices have been delivered to 675 students and their guardians.
The family of a woman who died by suicide in November 2020 while incarcerated at the Sudbury Jail is suing police and other officials for more than $2 million.
Northern College said it hopes the Ontario government will consider funding its trade programs -- this after being left out of a $224 million funding announcement for skilled trade centres.
Ontario Provincial Police responding to a different call March 17 discovered a driver slumped over the wheel in a running parked car on Main Street in the Town of Thessalon.
Remembering the night he fatally shot Beau Baker outside a Kitchener apartment on Brybeck Crescent in April 2015, Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) Staff Sgt. Eric Boynton - who was a patrol officer at the time - testified he was worried about Baker killing himself or others.
