108 drug overdoses

Illicit drug overdoses spiked in Vernon, Penticton and Nelson in November and December as smaller communities got caught up in the fentanyl crisis, according to Dr. Trevor Corneil, chief medical health officer with Interior Health.

"In large part the increase reflects what occurred in the Lower Mainland in October and November so that speaks to flow of drugs out of the Lower Mainland, along the TransCanada (Highway),” Corneil told Vernon city council on Monday. “It's spreading out across our whole health authority to rural areas.”

Local hospital statistics showed 108 people were treated for illicit drug overdoses in Vernon between Jan.-Dec. 2016. A total of 13 others died after overdosing on illicit drugs.

Other statistics showed that 68 per cent of those overdosing were male, many were in their late 30s and 45 per cent were taking the drugs in a private residence rather than out on the street.

Corneil said 60 per cent thought they were taking heroin while 14 per cent admitted to ingesting fentanyl.

“Vernon pops up a little higher than we might expect,” confirmed Corneil, adding that cities like Kamloops and Kelowna may be under-reporting the numbers.

He also praised Vernon for its efforts to combat the drug crisis and issues related to it.

The John Howard Society, the Social Planning Council and other agencies work with the city's bylaw department and the RCMP on drug and homelessness issues.

“Vernon is ahead of the curve on all of these issues. As this has flooded into Vernon, we are in a place where we will be able to response a little more quickly than we can in other populations.”

“We've had a lot of success with our take home naloxone kits,” said Corneil. “We had 350 kits distributed in Vernon and people are coming back to refill them.”

HE said naloxone reverses an opiod overdose immediately and will revive the person within minutes.

“It's hard to keep ahead of the number of deaths. The successes are the number of people who are not dead, we've been able to revive and then engage in service,” Corneil said. “I don't see us getting ahead of this anytime soon, unfortunately.”

Coun. Scott Anderson asked if Vernon had a disproportionate problem with drugs.

“We think non-fatal overdoses are over represented but we have seen an increase in activity over the last three or four months in Vernon. We've also seen that in Penticton.”

Corneil also admitted to “a gap between substance use services and the need” for treatment services, which IH is now trying to address.

On what the city could do to help, Corneil said, “People have to be compassionate and you have to start there and work with people where they are at.”