Timmins health officials say tainted drug supply is resulting in more overdose calls
The Opioid Emergency Response Task Force in Timmins wants the public to be aware of the potentially fatal illicit drug supply in the city.
“For the past week, there was a high volume of calls," said Patrick Nowak, a public health nurse with the Porcupine Health Unit. "The majority … occurred Sunday to this week, so the task force met and felt it was prudent or issue a drug alert."
Nowak said there've been 10 opioid overdose calls since last Wednesday -- and seven of those have been since Sunday. He said one person has died and so far, there have been more opioid overdose fatalities in the Timmins area this year compared to the same time period last year.
“We’ve had one fatality every week since November of 2020," said Jean Carriere, chief paramedic for Cochrane Emergency Medical Services. "That’s alarming. It’s a large amount of people who are overdosing and passing away from these poisonings."
Carriere and Nowak said the current local supply of illicit drugs is tainted.
"The drugs that are being utilized … have other mixtures in there that are causing people to overdose and pass away," said Carriere.
“We’ve seen not just in Timmins, in the Porcupine Health Unit Area, but across the province (that) there are other substances that are traditionally not opioid related that … have required Naloxone to reverse any potential side-effects," Nowak said.
"This includes things like meth, speed and or other stimulants that traditionally doesn’t contain opioids."
They said people who take drugs should not use alone and should carry multiple doses of Naloxone with them at all times, regardless of the substance they're consuming.
Carriere said it's time for a safe consumption site to be established in Timmins.
“We need a healthcare agency to step up, to take responsibility for the consumption site, and for it to be funded through the Ministry of Health or the LHIN or Ontario Health or the agencies that are responsible for that," he said.
Nowak also suggested calling the National Overdose Response Service phone number at 1-888-688-NORS (6677). He said someone will remain on the line with a person who's using drugs alone and will call for help if necessary.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.