Emergency responders say they’re being stretched to their limits by Vancouver’s ongoing fentanyl crisis as firefighters struggle to keep up to near constant overdose calls.
At Vancouver Fire Hall No. 2 in the downtown east side, fire crews received nearly 1,200 emergency calls in October. That’s a sizeable jump from May, when the fire hall broke its record for most 911 calls in a month with 943 calls.
Emergency calls in November are expected to climb even higher to 1,300 in a month, according to fire chief John McKearney.
“The advent of fentanyl has just changed the game completely,” McKearney told CTV Vancouver.
Between January and September, at least 332 overdose deaths in Vancouver were linked to fentanyl, according to the British Columbia Coroners Service. That’s a 196 per cent increase from the same period in 2015 –- and emergency response crews fear the problem is getting worse.
On Thursday, fire hall No. 2 received 15 calls for overdoses within a three-hour period. For firefighters, the constant demand can be trying.
“They’re going back to the same people that are unconscious, not breathing,” McKearney said, adding that some people take drugs outside the fire hall to be closer to emergency aid.
The hall has adjusted its operations to keep up with the overdoses. The unit has shrunk its response area for emergency calls to focus on a smaller area. Routine calls have been taken off the workload. And, in some cases, additional crews have been brought in on a temporary basis to ease some of the pressure.
Still, McKearney worries that his team is burning the candle at both ends.
“You just can’t keep adding on here. That’s not a functional approach either,” he said.
With a report from CTV Vancouver
