N.B. hospitals record at least 47 opioid overdoses since March

At least 47 people have been treated in hospital emergency rooms with suspected opioid overdoses since the beginning of March.

New Brunswick public health officials have started tracking non-fatal, accidental drug overdoses in near-real time, as the province prepares for a potential surge in fentanyl use.

But at least one of the province's health authorities is collecting the information by hand, with doctors and nurses combing through piles of paper to determine the scope of the province's thirst for addictive prescription medication. 

• Accidental opioid overdoses killed 23 people in New Brunswick last year
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• Pill seized on Esgenoôpetitj First Nation contains fentanyl, RCMP say

Horizon Health Network recorded 34 patients with non-fatal opioid overdoses between March 1 and July 8, according to data provided by the authority.

In the Vitalité Health Network, 13 patients went to the hospital with opioid overdoses between April 1 and June 30.

"It's very hard to be able to see any trends or something right now because we just have very limited data," said Allison White, the regional director for emergency room services at Vitalité.

Naloxone given more often

The numbers don't capture people who died from an overdose or people who were revived outside a hospital with naloxone, an opioid antidote that can temporarily reverse the symptoms of an overdose.

Many of those people were transported to hospital by Ambulance New Brunswick paramedics, who are giving doses of naloxone more often.

As of July 1, paramedics had already used naloxone on patients 146 times, according to new data from the ambulance service.

In 2009, it was only given 19 times all year.

The ambulance service recently loosened its policy around naloxone, anticipating that paramedics will encounter more overdoses.

Twenty-three people died from accidental opioid-related overdoses in 2016.

Working in the dark

For years, Debby Warren has also struggled to measure the toll of opioid addiction, hearing about overdoses only through clients who come to her office for clean needles.

Starting to track overdoses in real time, she says, is a good first step.

"We've been working in the dark, really, not understanding what's going on," said Warren, the executive director of AIDS Moncton.

Her office gave out 193,714 needles in the last fiscal year, a 65 per cent increase over the previous year. AIDS Moncton also saw an increase in the number of clients, serving 669 different people.

Needle exchange programs in Fredericton, Saint John and Miramichi recorded increases, too.

At AIDS Saint John's Waterloo Street office, people picked up 213,309 new needles in a 12-month period, an average of three needles for every person in the city. 

• Saint John police start Narcan training in anticipation of 'fentanyl crisis'

About two-thirds of the people coming to AIDS Saint John are using opioids, according to Diane Kerns, who runs the needle exchange program.

But Kerns and Warren have little information on exactly what people are taking.

"The sooner we know it, the better," Kerns said.

"Then we can be putting information up and alerting people."

'This will get worse'

For several months, the government has been studying whether to expand publicly funded access to naloxone, something provinces like Alberta and Nova Scotia have decided to do.

On Wednesday, Health Minister Victor Boudreau said a decision hasn't been made yet. Kits are available at some pharmacies in the province for $35 each.

The antidote shouldn't be available to anyone who wants it in a "free for all," the minister said. 

"We just don't want to rush into it, seeing as we're not in a situation yet where it is a crisis in New Brunswick," Boudreau said.

• What you need to know about fentanyl, which can kill you in one dose

Both Warren and Kerns would like to see the government cover the costs of naloxone for people who can't afford a $35 kit. 

No one was dealing fentanyl in Saint John until December, according to Kerns. Now, there are at least three dealers in the city, and some saying it's all they carry.

One of their clients overdosed on cocaine believed to be laced with fentanyl last week.

But no one can be sure what was in the drugs. Staff at AIDS Saint John posted a warning on a bulletin board.

"This is only the beginning of it," Kerns said.

"This will get worse."

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