By Sheldon Spackman

Rising numbers

Red Deer leading province in fentanyl-related deaths

Jun 16, 2020 | 5:11 PM

Red Deer has once again reclaimed the unfortunate title of having the province’s highest rate of poisoning deaths related to fentanyl.

According to Alberta Health’s most recent Opioid Response Surveillance Report, Red Deer’s rate per 100,000 persons of apparent accidental drug poisoning deaths related to fentanyl in the first quarter of this year was 28.9, including eight fatalities.

Grande Prairie had the highest rate of 32.2 in 2019, and also in 2017 with a rate of 36.4. Red Deer has previously led the way with the province’s highest rate at 42.8 in 2018, and 21.1 in 2016.

Stacey Carmichael, executive director at Turning Point which operates Red Deer’s temporary Overdose Prevention Site (OPS), says the numbers are disappointing.

“We anticipated that we would see the rates increase in the second quarter report because of COVID,” says Carmichael. “But from the previous quarter, we are seeing an upward trend.”

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AHS Central Zone, which includes Red Deer, saw the second highest fentanyl-related death rate of zones across the province at 12.4 per 100,000 persons. The rate was highest in the South Zone at 14.1.

Red Deer’s eight fentanyl-related fatalities so far in 2020 is also higher when compared with six reported in Lethbridge, three in Grande Prairie and one in Medicine Hat.

The report indicates only Edmonton, Red Deer, and Lethbridge saw an increase in their rate of fentanyl-related deaths from 2019.

Carmichael says it’s hard to say what the rising fentanyl-related death rate can be attributed to.

“There’s probably a variety of potential factors,” she suggests. “But we have noticed a significantly different drug supply and the drugs are definitely contaminated. Also increased isolation, but I would hate to hazard a guess. Those would be things that come to mind.”

Other highlights from the report show that in the most recent quarter, 127 Albertans have died from an apparent accidental fentanyl-related poisoning, compared to 105 Albertans in the previous quarter.

The most up-to-date data also shows that 142 people have died from all types of opioid poisonings in the first three months of this year – down from 161 during the same time period last year, or an 11.8 per cent decrease.

At Red Deer’s OPS, there were 15,432 visits during the first three months of this year – a 15 per cent increase from the previous quarter and bringing the total number of visits to 65,855 since the site opened in October, 2018.

Carmichael thinks an increase in site visitations may be attributed to familiarization with the facility and users feeling more comfortable there.

“But there’s lots of examples of where folks have improved their life circumstances being connected with a variety of things,” she points out. “Everything from treatment, to housing, to mental health supports, there’s definitely connections being made there. I just hope that we can all remain vigilant and get to know what’s going on out there and get trained in naloxone and overdose prevention.”

“I anticipate with the increase in unemployment rates and that stuff, that we’re going to be seeing a lot more folks struggling with problematic substance use and mental health concerns and we need to be ready,” concludes Carmichael.