(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)
July 02, 2019 - 6:00 PM
KAMLOOPS — Data released by B.C. Emergency Health Services shows Kamloops continues to see an increase in the number of calls involving potential overdoses, and most of the calls are being made from downtown and the north shore.
So far this year, Kamloops has seen a total of 258 calls for potential overdoses from January to May. These calls aren't fatalities, rather calls about a potential overdose.
May saw the highest number of 911 calls, with 72 recorded.
“Kamloops is averaging about 52 overdose calls a month,” says media spokesperson for B.C. Emergency Health Services Shannon Miller.
Overdose calls from the last year, June 2018 to May 2019, shows the majority of call volume originates from downtown and the North Shore.
The total number of calls to B.C. Emergency Health Services for potential overdoses in Kamloops since 2015 are as follows:
2018 - 685
2017 - 679
2016 - 576
2015 - 310
In 2018 alone, B.C. Paramedics responded to more than 23,000 overdose calls in B.C. Across the province, paramedics respond to an average of 65 overdoses each day. Vancouver, Surrey and Victoria continue to have the highest overdose call volumes.
For past stories on the opioid crisis across Kamloops and the Okanagan go here.
A graphic map shows the origin and number of overdose calls collected from June 2018 to May 2019 in Kamloops. It shows a total of 647 overdose calls with the remaining 25 calls outside the map area.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ B.C. Emergency Health Services
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