By Shaun Penner

Apparent Fentanyl Poisonings

Grande Prairie sees province’s highest rate of fentanyl-related fatalities in 2019

May 8, 2020 | 6:45 PM

Though the rate of apparent fentanyl-related poisoning deaths steadily dropped throughout 2019, Grande Prairie still saw the highest rate of fatalities among the province’s major municipalities for the year.

According to the latest Alberta Opioid Response Surveillance Report from Alberta Health, the Swan City had 24 people die from an apparent opioid overdose related to fentanyl in 2019, setting the rate at 32.2 per 100,000 people. That rate is nearly twice that of the next highest urban centre, Lethbridge, at 16.3 per 100,000.

“All of the largest municipalities, except Grande Prairie, had a noticeable decrease in the rate of fentanyl poisoning deaths from 2018 to 2019,” reads the Alberta Health report.

Courtesy: Alberta Health

Grande Prairie’s rate did increase slightly from 2018, which sat at 31 per 100,000 after 23 people lost their lives to a fentanyl overdose in that year. However, the Swan City did see a decrease from June through December 2019, going from a rate of 51 per 100,000 in June down to 32.2 in December.

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A total of 523 people died from an apparent fentanyl poisoning in 2019 in Alberta, a majority of which came in Calgary and Edmonton. Alberta Health says 431 of all deaths (82 per cent) occurred in one of Alberta’s urban centres.

Through the first three quarters of 2019, 19 Grande Prairie residents had died from an apparent fentanyl poisoning, meaning five people died between October and December in the Swan City.

An updated heat map from Alberta Health of where apparent opioid-related deaths occurred in Grande Prairie in 2019 (Photo: Alberta Health)

EMS services in Grande Prairie continue to be some of the busiest in the province when it comes to responding to opioid-related calls for service. The report shows first responders have been called out 184 times in 2019 in Grande Prairie, which set a rate of 233 per 100,000. That was second behind Lethbridge, which saw a rate of 285 per 100,000 in 2019.