Pages

Thursday, December 6, 2018

At least 19 people died in November of suspected opioid overdoses in Toronto, paramedics say


At least 19 people died from suspected opioid overdoses in the city in November, the most in a month this year, according to paramedic records published by Toronto Public Health.
Paramedics reported 281 calls for suspected opioid overdoses in November in which people did not die, up from 250 in October, but lower than in July, August and September.
Canada is battling a national emergency of opioid addiction.
Canada is battling a national emergency of opioid addiction.  (Toby Talbot / AP file photo)
The paramedic count of suspected opioid overdoses is preliminary and subject to change and may underestimate the true number of overdoses in the city, according to Toronto Public Health’s Overdose Information System.
That’s in part because not all opioid overdoses in the city necessarily result in a 911 call involving paramedics. Also, any patient who dies in hospital after being transported there alive by paramedics might appear in the data as a “non-fatal” overdose.
A paramedic’s assessment of an opioid overdose may also may differ from a hospital’s ultimate diagnosis, or the coroner’s call on cause of death.
Article Continued Below
According to separate data maintained Public Health Ontario, Toronto saw 308 deaths from opioid-related causes in 2017.
Toronto Public Health launched the Overdose Information System in the Aug. 2017, at a time when opioid-related deaths in the city were spiking.
In Aug. 2017, paramedics reported 24 deaths due to suspected opioid overdoses and 396 non-fatal calls. The number rose to 27 fatal and 373 non-fatal calls in Sept. 27.
Paramedics have responded to a weekly average of three fatal and 61 non-fatal calls since Aug. 2017.
The greatest density of overdose calls is in the city’s downtown core.
Toronto Public Health last month released its first report on a full year’s worth of paramedics data. It found in part that the city is best-equipped to prevent deaths from opioid overdoses downtown due to the prevalence of treatment services such as overdose prevention sites.
Stefanie Marotta is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star’s radio room in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @StefanieMarotta
 
X

More from The Star & Partners

No comments:

Post a Comment