MEDICINE HAT, AB — Drug-related overdose deaths are being felt on a local level now more than ever.
The opioid crisis and other drugs are impacting more than just police and paramedics.
A local funeral home is seeing the devastation firsthand, and the director said more needs to be done.
“When people hear of overdoses, they hear of what’s happening but they don’t see it,” said Rod Krushel with Cook Southland Funeral Chapel. “We, as funeral personnel, we see it. It is real.”
Krushel has seen it all over the last 26 years and said there are more deaths linked to drugs and overdoses than before.
“From a perspective, everyone thinks ‘well, it can’t happen to me’,” he said. “From a funeral director point of view, it happens and death is not prejudiced.”
Krushel doesn’t keep track of any numbers, but he has experience.
He has been called to scenes to help the medical examiner.
While at a scene, he’s observant.
He is never given the official cause of death.
“The only thing that we can determine is there’s drug paraphernalia sometimes that is present when we attend the scenes,” he said.
Krushel also speaks with families, who are often open about what happened, despite how hard the conversations can be.
“It’s always difficult because when these types of passings do happen, they’re normally sudden and they’re totally unexpected,” he added.
Krushel said he’s in the business of helping people and he does that by helping them understand the five stages of grief.
The first stage many families face is denial.
“Part of dealing with that is for the family to have the opportunity to see the deceased person,” Krushel said. “Once they see that deceased person, it brings to light that this person has in fact passed away.”
The Alberta Funeral Services Regulatory Board has heard concerns surrounding opioid-related deaths from funeral directors over the past few months.
Executive director Karen Carruthers said they’ve been working with Alberta Health Services to figure out what can be done to protect funeral staff in the future.
“It’s a new situation that all first responders, and I consider funeral homes to kind of fall into that category of first responders ‘cause quite often they’re one of the first groups on scene as well,” she said over the phone from Edmonton.
Earlier this month, the province and AHS announced a new campaign, telling everyone that overdoses can happen to anyone. It’s a message they’re continuing to push.
“I just think the more awareness that can be created certainly helps,” Krushel said.
