Drug poisoning calls to paramedics increasing in Waterloo Region
Posted Jan 7, 2025 02:59:11 PM.
Last Updated Jan 7, 2025 02:59:16 PM.
The Region of Waterloo released statistics regarding drug poisoning calls to paramedics in 2024 and it shows they are on the rise.
There were 1,553 calls last year, the highest since data tracking began in 2013 . In 2023 there were 1,455 calls and the year prior 1,205.
The majority (920) of the calls came from Kitchener, comparing to 367 from Cambridge and 212 from Waterloo.
People aged 25 to 44 represented 52 per cent of calls, a drop from 57 per cent a year earlier. Women made up 31 per cent of overdose calls to 911, which is up from 29 per cent in 2023.
When it comes to opioid-related deaths, there were 54 suspected and 33 probable in 2024. Of those deaths, 69 per cent were among the 25 to 44 age group.
The percentage of women who died from opioid overdose fell to 15 per cent last year, the lowest since 2018. But, that means 85 per cent of deaths were men, an increase from 76 percent in 2023.
The numbers come ahead of the province’s mandate to close the region’s only consumption and treatment services site. It was recently announced the Duke Street facility would be converted to a Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) hub. However, that does not include a safe consumption area.
The Region of Waterloo releases the drug stats on a quarterly basis. They are compiled through a collaboration between the Waterloo Region Integrated Drug Strategy, Public Health and Paramedic Services.
