Ambulance crews scramble to cover spike in overdose calls in B.C. Interior
Global News
B.C. Emergency Health Services says crews responded to 37 overdose calls on Wednesday, up from 23 on Tuesday and 12 on Monday.
It was a hectic Wednesday for ambulance crews in B.C.’s Southern Interior, with 37 overdose calls across the Interior Health region.
That was up from 23 overdose calls on Tuesday, 12 on Monday and 11 on Sunday.
On Wednesday, Interior Health issued an urgent drug alert, stating that testing had found high levels of fentanyl and benzodiazepines in drug samples across the region.
Global News has reached out to Interior Health regarding Wednesday’s drug alert and spike in overdose calls.
In its alert, Interior Health said multiple samples have been found to contain up to 55 per cent fentanyl, up from the average of 10 per cent.
The alert says other testing has found that some drug samples contain up to 25 per cent etizolam, with the normal average being one to two per cent.
The drug alert is in effect until Feb. 26.
According to B.C. Emergency Health Services (BCEHS), below are the number of overdose calls from the past week that crews responded to in the Interior Health Authority region:
An accused in the 2022 homicide of 16-year-old Devon Marsman appeared in Halifax court Tuesday, but proceedings will be delayed.
Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne told MPs the government's order to windup TikTok's Canadian operations over national security concerns won't impact his own investigation.
The $8-million youth treatment and recovery facility is a project spearheaded by the Bridge Youth and Family Services organization, and hopes to accommodate up to 40 youth.
The Edmonton passport office was initially set to be closed until Monday, however Service Canada now says the downtown site will remain closed until further notice.
Geoffrey Hinton, a so-called godfather of artificial intelligence, is not boosting the latest tech startup or funding an initiative to counter the dangers of AI.
A Manitoba professor has made leaps and bounds in cancer research, developing a tool that could add years onto multiple myeloma patients' lives.
Prosecutors in Georgia says Sumanth Rao was indicted in connection with a fatal crash involving an underage driver who had been drinking at his Atlanta-area home.
The Assembly of First Nations says the ongoing postal strike is delaying supplies of medicine and other necessities in rural and remote communities.
As Canada Post workers remain on the picket line, a key point of contention in their demands is their job's growing physical and mental toll—exacerbated by climate change.
Donald Trump's comments come on the heels of a recent joke, when he suggested Canada should become the 51st U.S. state.
Several House of Commons committees being held in Wellington Building, which sits across Wellington Street from Parliament Hill, were suspended after alarms were heard.