City police report nine overdoses in a month

By Gillian Slade on September 25, 2018.

gslade@medicinehatnews.com  @MHNGillianSlade

Nine people in Medicine Hat have suffered a drug overdose in the past month alone.

The timeframe for the statistic provided by city police is Aug. 24 to Sept. 24.

“We are very concerned. It’s a huge public safety issue, nine overdoses in a 30 day span is too many,” MHPS Insp. Brent Secondiak said.

Of the nine overdoses that police attended, two of the people died, Narcan (Naloxone) was administered to six, and one was transported to Medicine Hat Regional Hospital for treatment.

To put this in perspective, from 2014-2016, there were a total of nine overdose deaths, or an average of three each year.

“It’s the escalation of people taking drugs and the type of drugs they’re taking that has significantly changed over the past two years to more opioid based drugs. I have never seen it like this before,” said Secondiak. “Fentanyl and heroin are quite commonplace now.”

One of the possible reasons for the spike is the type of drugs in the city and the fact they are more readily available, said Secondiak. The total number ebbs and flows depending on the drugs at the time. Sometimes the supply is reduced, or there may be a bad batch.

Police are often on scene before EMS arrive, and when there has been an overdose, they will administer the Narcan.

“We have done that 49 times this year (so far),” said Secondiak. “It’s alarming but we are thankful we have the antidote present.”

Narcan is not a treatment, Secondiak stresses, it is a Band-Aid to prevent death.

“It should not be considered a safety blanket at all. It is just a temporary fix to save somebody’s life,” said Secondiak. “If you give Narcan too late there can still be brain damage and other medical issues.”

The city was showing the need several years ago for a residential treatment detoxification facility, and the Medicine Hat Recovery Centre was officially opened in March 2016. While it is making a difference, manager Debbie Vass says the clients they are seeing have increasingly complex needs.

Some are homeless or in financial difficulty, unemployed, have lost the support of family and friends, are isolated, are dealing with medical issues such as dental, sexually transmitted infections, post traumatic stress disorder and other mental health problems. Others have been self-medicating for pain.

Vass says detox can’t help the local drug problem without addressing other influential variables.

Rita Duren, AHS director of addiction and mental health services for Medicine Hat, says a number of provincially funded programs have already been initiated to address this at the local recovery centre, including an on-site psychiatrist and a harm reduction specialist.

Community HIV Link as well has plans to open a supervised consumption site in Medicine Hat by the end of the year. City police have voiced support for harm reduction strategies, and Secondiak is hopeful the site will make a difference.

AHS medical officer of health Dr. Lena Derie-Gillespie says overdose prevention is one of the main focuses for supervised consumption sites, limiting that risk even if the user brings in contaminated drugs.

Reducing the stigma attached to drugs is also key in addressing the situation comprehensively, says Derie-Gillespie, urging more open discussions as both a prevention and also to encourage people to seek help.

She calls it a complex issue in need of unique, multifaceted supports and a full community response.

“We all have a part in this because it is community members who are dying and suffering here,” said Derie-Gillespie.

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