Edmonton opioid-related EMS calls increase 299% since 2018
CTV
Data released by the province shows the number of opioid events EMS attended in Edmonton has been growing year over year.
Data released by the province shows the number of opioid events EMS attended in Edmonton has been growing year over year.
In 2020, the number of events EMS responded to more than doubled. A total of 1,909 incidents made for a 109 per cent increase.
That trend continued in 2021 when the numbers more than doubled again.
Between the 1,060 events in 2018 and the 4,227 in 2021, Edmonton saw an increase of 299 per cent.
To date, EMS has responded to 1,396 events in the city, meaning 33 per cent of last year’s total has been reached as of May 1, 2022.
“We’ll call it an epidemic, pandemic, I don’t know what you want to call it anymore, but the opioid crisis exists, it’s real, and it’s killing Albertans,” said Mike Parker, Health Sciences Association of Alberta president.
The soaring number of opioid responses happening at the same time as the COVID-19 pandemic has been taking a toll on the health-care system, as the impacts are felt by paramedics and hospital staff, with crews often driving across the entire city to get to a high priority call.
