Calls to paramedics for overdoses and drug poisonings in Castlegar dropped by 23 per cent in 2024.
Data released by BC Emergency Health Services shows Nelson led all Kootenay communities with 261 calls in 2024, up from 225 in 2023. Nelson was followed by Cranbrook (237), Trail (183), Grand Forks (52), Creston (26, up from 16), Castlegar (23) and Kimberley (19).
Provincially, BCEHS paramedics responded to four per cent fewer drug poisoning calls since 2023.
“Overdoses continue to happen in communities all over the province, in cities and rural areas, in every neighbourhood, both inside and outside homes,” said Brian Twaites, paramedic public information officer, in a news release on Feb. 5.
Since the public health emergency for toxic drugs was declared in 2016, BCEHS has seen a 110 per cent total increase in annual overdose events. In 2024, paramedics responded to 40,543 overdose and poisoning calls, an average of 111 calls a day.
Castlegar calls have been trending downward since reaching a high of 44 in 2022. BCEHS does not release exact locations of their calls, but the Castlegar Fire Department reported responding to 21 overdose calls in the vicinity of Castlegar's winter shelter during 2022.
The shelter came under new management in 2023 and overdose calls to the location dropped dramatically.
Throughout the toxic drug crisis, Castlegar overdose calls have fluctuated from year to year with the first year of the crisis (2016) having the lowest number at 16, the following year (2017) they almost doubled at 29. The pattern continued for four more years with 15 in 2018, jumping to 32 in 2019, falling to 17 in 2020 and then jumping to 33 in 2021. This was followed by the high of 44 in 2022 and then a 32-per-cent drop to 30 in 2023 and a further drop to 23 in 2024.
Recently released statistics from the B.C. Coroners Service show that 36 people died of toxic drug poisonings last year in the West Kootenay. Six of those deaths occurred in the Castlegar area.
First responders have saved the lives of many during drug poisoning events. However, the increasing toxicity of the illicit drug supply creates complex challenges, with more naloxone administered than ever before.
"The vast majority of illicit drug toxicity deaths happen when people use alone because there is no one to call 911," said Twaites. "People need to know, if you are going to use these illicit drugs, please don't use alone.”
The BC Centre for Disease Control’s Take Home Naloxone program provides life-saving training and free kits to people who are likely to witness and respond to drug poisoning.
The medication temporarily reverses the effects of an overdose from opioids such as fentanyl, heroin, methadone, and morphine. Kits are available in B.C. without a prescription from community pharmacies, harm-reduction sites, hospitals, and First Nations' facilities.
For more information, visit towardtheheart.com/naloxone.
With files from Betsy Kline
