Majority don't call 911 after saving someone from fentanyl overdose, says study

Many people who have saved someone's life by administeringnaloxone during an overdose admit they did not callfor help afterward, according to a new study.

Results from a survey conducted by the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuserevealed as many as 65 per cent of respondents did not call 9-1-1 when they used theopioidantidote.

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People surveyed saidthey worriedpolice wouldget involved and arrest them for being associated with the person who has just overdosed.

MichaelParkinson, community engagement officer with the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council, talked to several dozen respondents from the area. More than half said they did not call for help.

"The high toxicity offentanylmeans that an overdose can return even afternaloxoneadministration," he said. "Hospital care is absolutely recommended."

The findings, collected in surveys conducted with hundreds of intravenous drugusers, come as Ontario grapples with an opioid crisis that is killing hundreds every year.

Middlesex-LondonEMS education superintendent JayLoosleysaid overdose calls have not gone up in the region, despite the city handing out the second highest number ofneedles per capita in Canada.

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"We have been responding to fentanyloverdoses for awhile now and we definitely get 9-1-1 calls where we arrive on scene to a victim but no bystandard," he said.

Loosely agrees the person who made the call is worried about getting in trouble with the law.

New law needed

Parkinson and others are lobbying the government to introduce a "Good Samaritan" law to give immunity to people who call 9-1-1 for an overdose.

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"We're recommending the establishment of a national law that would provide limited immunity at overdose emergencies in an effort to boost 9-1-1 call rates," Parkinson said.

A senate committee recently reviewed a proposed law and while it still needs to be approved by the senate as a whole, the committee is encouraging a favourable vote.