It took multiple doses of naloxone to revive two men brought down by what’s suspected to be fentanyl-laced heroin in the early morning hours of Dec. 23.
At 4:40 a.m. four volunteer firefighters with the Egmont and District Volunteer Fire Department responded to a call of a possible cardiac arrest, says Fire Chief Kal Helyar, who administered the drug, which is used to halt the effects of opioids, to both patients.
“We arrived on scene to find a group of people and one patient was unconscious, not breathing and at first we were having trouble finding a pulse,” Helyar said. While they were administering naloxone to the first patient, the second collapsed and was also given a dose of the drug. Both patients were transferred to Sechelt Hospital for observation and released later in the day.
“It’s the first time we had had to use naloxone. We are a very small community, a lot of what we handle is traffic incidents and medical incidents,” Helyar said. “This was some people that were up late and partying and somebody decided that just a little would be OK, and unfortunately when drugs are laced with fentanyl, there’s no such thing as a little bit.”
Helyar said that by December 2016, firefighters at fire halls across the Sunshine Coast were set up with kits after receiving training via a “train the trainer program” organized by Ann Beardsell from Sechelt Hospital (Helyar’s wife) and Bill Elsner, Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) emergency program coordinator.
“Originally, the purpose of training the fire department members was to prepare for accidental exposure and treatment of our firefighters,” Cecilia Garcia, the SCRD’s communications officer, wrote in an email. It was then “determined that firefighters were adequately trained and equipped to administer naloxone to a patient that showed signs of an opioid exposure.”
In response to the Dec. 23 event, members of the Egmont fire hall are working to organize a seminar to train members of the public. “There were a number of people at the party and a number of people knew some of the participants, so people are becoming more aware that this can happen anywhere. It surprised us,” Helyar said.
As of Dec. 20, 2017, the Take Home Naloxone program has expanded to include community pharmacies, including London Drugs in Gibsons. Gibsons Health Unit, Sunshine Coast Mental Health and Addictions Services and Pender Harbour & District Health Centre participate in the program. Naloxone kits are made available, free of charge, to people who use opioids or know people who do. Participating pharmacies also provide training on how to administer the drug.
Halfmoon Bay Fire Department administered naloxone three times in 2017. The Sechelt Fire Department administered it twice before BC Ambulance Service (BCAS) arrived and has assisted BCAS approximately six times. Neither the Pender Harbour nor Roberts Creek fire departments administered naloxone in 2017. The SCRD was not able to provide numbers for the Gibsons fire hall by deadline.
Staff Sgt. Vishal Mathura says RCMP administered it once in 2017. Paramedics with BCAS administered naloxone more than 25 times last year on the Sunshine Coast.
From Jan. 1 to Nov. 30, 2017, rural hospitals within the Vancouver Coastal Health region reported 75 overdoses, 44 per cent of which were opioid related. Sechelt Hospital received the majority of those overdoses (71 per cent).
In April 2016, the overdose crisis prompted Dr. Perry Kendall, provincial medical health officer, to declare a public health emergency, which remains in effect.
