Alberta opioid deaths heading towards decline in 2019

There were 46 fentanyl-related deaths in Red Deer last year, compared to 12 in 2019, through the end of September.

“The overdose prevention site has helped locally, and across the province where there are supervised consumption services,” says Stacey Carmichael, executive director at Turning Point. “I believe things like naloxone distribution and increased awareness have made a difference, as well as increased access to opioid agonist therapy and treatment options. There are lots of little things making a difference.”

In November 2019, the OPS served 238 unique clients, with an average of 152 visits per day for a total of 4,568. There were 100 overdoses, but zero calls to emergency services, data backed up by the province whose report shows there have been just 55 responses from EMS to opioid-related events in our city this year There were 105 in 2018.

The report also states that five per cent (537) of all hospitalizations at Red Deer Regional are related to opioids and drug use, while four per cent (1,504) of ER visits are for the same reason.

Profoundly changed as the numbers may be, however, Carmichael says it’s crucial to remember that people are still dying.

“Me being very optimistic, I would’ve hoped the numbers would be down, but that’s where it gets a little scary to focus on that, because what the numbers don’t mean is that we’re out of this crisis,” she says. “If the overdose prevention site were to go away, that death rate would go back up.”

Carmichael has heard nothing new of what the provincial government has planned for supervised consumption services in 2020. The Turning Point-operated OPS is currently permitted to run through March 31, and the organization previously had hopes of opening a permanent SCS a block away, where it owns a building.

Central Zone, which includes Red Deer, has also seen a dip in deaths related to the 100-times more lethal carfentanil; there were 15 deaths in 2018, and just four in the first three quarters of this year.

In Calgary, where there were 96 carfentanil-related deaths in 2018 — the most in the province — there have only been 24 this year.

Meantime, the one area of Alberta where numbers are rising, though not drastically, is Grande Prairie. Carmichael notes HIV North is currently getting mobile supervised consumption services rolling in that city, so numbers will hopefully be on the decline soon.

“It’s unfortunate that we have any folks still dying from this very preventable crisis that we’re in, and again, the important thing is that everybody knows the illicit drug supply is absolutely contaminated,” Carmichael says.

“When you look at this report, you see that people have methamphetamine in their system, but they’re actually overdosing from fentanyl. People need to just take care of themselves when using drugs, make sure they aren’t using alone, and that they have naloxone or naloxone training,” she says. “Lots of people will say they’ll just do one line of coke on New Year’s, but it very well could be contaminated. So enjoy your New Year’s, but be safe.”

In 2019, 81 per cent of accidental fentanyl-related deaths listed at least one other substance as contributing to death, the report states. Methamphetamine was the most common, occurring in 49 per cent of cases, with cocaine the next highest at 28 per cent.

The full Q3 report can be found here.

by Josh Hall (with files from Alex McCuaig)

Alberta opioid deaths heading towards decline in 2019

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