(OTTAWA) Calls for drug overdose cases have become a daily occurrence in Ottawa and paramedics say they are concerned about the growing toxicity of the drugs.
Darryl Wilton, president of the Ottawa Paramedic Professional Association, reports that his teams are seeing an increase in the use of benzodiazepines, sedatives or tranquilizers such as Valium, Xanax or Ativan, mixed with opioids . It’s a combination that can send patients to the hospital for treatment that paramedics can’t provide.
Naloxone is considered a first level treatment for paramedics. It has been made available in pharmacies because it can reverse opioid overdoses. However, Darryl Wilton reports that not all patients respond to the antidote that is not effective against benzodiazepines.
An antidote called Flumazenil can reverse benzodiazepine overdoses, but it’s only given in the hospital.
The District of Renfrew, which serves communities west of Ottawa, sent out an overdose alert on Monday warning residents of potentially deadly drugs circulating in the area.
Ottawa Public Health data shows there were 693 emergency room visits for opioid-related overdoses between January and October last year, down 10 per cent from the same time in 2021.
Darryl Wilton believes that the existence of supervised consumption sites probably explains this drop. The Somerset West Community Health Center is home to such a site which receives an average of 700 visits per month.