The Parksville Qualicum Beach area has seen nearly a dozen suspected overdose related deaths in the past year, says a medical health officer for Island Health.
Dr. Paul Hasselback told The NEWS the Qualicum Local Health Area, which encompasses School District 69 (Qualicum), saw 13 fatalities suspected to be due to opioid overdoses in an 18-month period from Jan. 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017.
The 13 fatalities is at a rate of about 20 per 100,000.
Hasselback said over the same period, the Island and B.C. rates were about 24 deaths per 100,000 population.
“So while slightly less than the average, the average rates are driven by large cities. This puts Qualicum area at the higher end of the rural regions of the Island,” Hasselback said.
Last year, as the drug crisis was gaining momentum, the tragic and sudden death of a young Errington couple in mid-August 2016 came on the heels on an urgent call from the B.C. Ministry of Health for awareness and action to combat drug overdoses in the province.
RELATED: Officials urge everyone to confront the ‘crisis’ of drug overdoses on the Island, province
At the time, the B.C. Coroners Service told The NEWS it was a possibility the couple died of a drug overdose, but the coroners service was still exploring all options. Despite multiple calls and emails, The NEWS was unable to find out the cause of death.
Last year, Errington Volunteer Fire Department chief Troy Bater said the department had responded to four overdose calls in the first 10 months of 2016. He said some of those overdoses have ended in deaths.
RELATED: Rural firefighters in Parksville Qualicum Beach region learn how to use overdose-reversing drug
On Thursday (Sept. 7), the B.C. Coroners Service released a report on fentanyl-linked overdose deaths in the first seven months of 2017. The report stated fentanyl has caused more than 80 per cent of drug overdose deaths in B.C. from January until the end of July 2017.
The illicit drug was detected in 706 of the 876 deaths so far this year. That’s already higher than the the percentage of deaths caused by fentanyl for all of last year — 67 per cent.
Carfentanil, an opioid that’s 100 times more powerful than fentanyl — and which is used to tranquilize elephants — was detected in 13 drug overdose deaths in June and July, the report says.
Just last month, Hasselback told Qualicum Beach town council that the opioid crisis is “close to home.”
RELATED: Child poverty ‘hidden’ scourge in Parksville Qualicum Beach
Mayor Teunis Westbroek asked Hasselback what the provincial government is doing to provide support.
Hasselback said prevention sites are one option, but he said it’s about housing first and access to housing.
RELATED: Parksville passes on safe-injection site
At Parksville’s Aug. 21 meeting, city council voted to continue monitoring the worsening transient and drug-use crisis in the city. A report from the city’s CAO, Debbie Comis, offered four potential actions the city could take to address the crisis, including the adoption of an Island Health-directed needle recovery program and/or a harm-reduction, or safe-injection, site.