Oakville, Burlington in midst of a drug poisoning emergency

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By Gene Pereira

March 28, 2022 at 5:56 pm

Drug poisoning is growing in Oakville, Burlington, Milton and Halton Hills at an alarming rate.

The overdose crisis that has grown worse across the country during the pandemic has developed into a full blown emergency right here in our own backyard.

Over the last 86 days, Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) says it has responded to 103 suspected overdoses.

A total of 13 people have died during the period from substance use/misuse so far this year.

“These are not statistics,” Halton Regional police said on Twitter Monday. “These are lives.”

From January 1 to February 28 of this year, Halton Region says it received 31 calls for suspected opioid overdose.

From January to September of 2021, there were 21 confirmed opioid-related deaths among Halton residents.

From the start of this year to February 28, there have been eight suspected drug-related deaths among Halton residents, similar to 2021 (10 deaths) and 2020 (seven deaths).

Halton residents made 26 trips to an emergency department

during this year’s two-month period for a confirmed opioid overdose.

While the numbers are similar to the number of visits during the same period last year, the Regions says data from 2022 is preliminary and subject to underreporting.

The numbers are similar to those in the same period in 2021 (24 visits) and 2020 (23 visits), but much lower than the 50 visits recorded in 2019.

A total of 438 naloxone kits have been distributed during the last 12 months, says the Halton Region Health Department.

Most of the kits were handed out in Oakville, followed by Burlington. Refill kits made up 316 (72 per cent) of those distributed.

Halton Region statistics compared to Ontario:

Rate of emergency department visits

From January to June 2021, the rate of emergency department visits for confirmed opioid overdose among residents of any age was 14.3 visits per 100,000 in Halton (compared to 15.0 during the first six months of 2020) and 53.4 visits per 100,000 in Ontario (compared to 39.2 during the first six months of 2020).

From 2014 through the first half of 2021, the rate of opioid-related ED visits in Halton has been consistently lower compared to Ontario.

Rate of opioid-related deaths
From January to June 2021, the rate of opioid-related deaths among residents of any age was 3.5 deaths per 100,000 in Halton (compared to 2.3 during the first half of 2020) and 9.6 deaths per 100,000 in Ontario (compared to 7.3 during the first half of 2020).

From 2014 through the first half of 2021, the rate of opioid-related deaths in Halton has been consistently lower compared to Ontario.