[An organizer displays a naloxone kit that people can pick up for free as a training seminar takes place at Centennial Square during International Overdose Awareness Day in Victoria, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2019. The RCMP say five people overdosed after using drugs together in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Image Credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
October 18, 2020 - 12:32 PM
SURREY, B.C. - The RCMP say naloxone was used to help five people who overdosed after using drugs together in the early hours of Saturday morning.
They say officers initially responded to a report of a gas leak inside a home at 1:48 a.m. and located five unresponsive people.
Other emergency services attended and administered Narcan, which is also known as naloxone, a medication that can help reverse opioid overdoses.
Police say all five people were revived after receiving up to four doses of Narcan each before being transported to hospital.
The Mounties determined there was no gas leak, but they say the five people had consumed drugs and overdosed one by one.
Police say no drugs were located at the time, so it's not known what they consumed, but it's believed to have been a highly concentrated batch.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, as well as chief coroner Lisa Lapointe, have said the COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating the overdose crisis as border closures disrupt the supply of illicit drugs and fuel the distribution of even more toxic substances.
There were 703 fatal overdoses in the first eight months of 2019 compared with 1,068 between January and August of this year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2020.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2020
News from © The Canadian Press, 2020