As opioid deaths surge in Waterloo region, outreach workers sound alarm

The co-ordinator of the Waterloo Region Integrated Drug Strategy is sounding analarm as recent figures show 78 people have died of suspected opioid overdoses so far this year.

Five people died in one week this fall.

Joanna Han said that manydeaths in the space of a week "is a large amount."

"I've heard through the community, like front-line workers, that three of the five happened within a very short time window, like 48 hours so it's very, very concerning," Han told CBC News.

"Fentanyl has actually been commonly found in the illicit street market for a very long time, but the problem right now is that these new strains are reportedly causing different effects that front-line workers and people who use drugs aren't used to seeing.

"So that increases their risk of having an overdose. It's not just fentanyl, all opioids carry the risk of overdose because they are downers and they suppress your basic life functions like breathing and your heart rate. So that's that's the danger there."

Distancing means people use drugs alone

In August, the region had seen a slight uptick in the number of overdose deaths this year.She said COVID-19 could have a role to play in the increase in overdose deaths.

"It's just the border closures and the unpredictability of the market is just making it very dangerous right now," Han said.

"Right now with social distancing, like a lot of people are using drugs alone and that'sreally increasing the risk of having an overdose because someone's not there to, you know, administer lifesaving naloxone."

Han said the situation is also taking a toll on front-line workers.

"I'm not a front-line worker, but I can tell you that it's exhausting to hear that people are dying. It's not good to hear," she said.

"I can't imagine how front-line workers and people who actually have a personal relationship with these community members feel. It's devastating."

Numbers are 'highly disappointing'

Michael Parkinson, a drug strategy specialist with the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council, said the numbers are "highly disappointing" to himand his colleagues right across Canada.

But he said he is not too surprised by them.

"We've had conversations over many years about surges in overdose fatalities that were likely to occur and of course that's what we're seeing, not just in Waterloo region but really right across Canada," Parkinson told CBC News.

"In Ottawa this weekend, four people died within a 24-hour period due to the drugs consumed from the unregulated market."

Parkinson said he personally knew some of the people who died recently.

"Waterloo region is still a small community and you get to know people. And for those who come into contact with people who are using substances, all of us have been to far too many funerals over the many years," he said.

Just last month, apermanent consumption and treatment services (CTS) site openedin Kitchener. That replaces a the temporary site at the same location.

Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, Waterloo region's acting medical officer of health, said the site represents one piece of a larger harm reduction and opioid strategy to reduce fatal overdoses in Waterloo region.