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By Emily Keller

Opioid Response Surveillance Report

Grande Prairie sees three fentanyl related deaths in first quarter of 2020

Jun 17, 2020 | 11:06 AM

The Alberta Opioid Response Surveillance Report for the first quarter of 2020 has been released.

In the first three months of the year in Alberta, data shows that 142 people died from an apparent accidental opioid overdose, compared to last year, where 161 people were reported to have died between January and March 2019. This is an 11.8 per cent decrease from the same time last year.

Grande Prairie had three apparent accidental drug poisoning deaths related to fentanyl between January to March of 2020, setting the rate at 15.9 per 100,000 for the first quarter. Last year between January and March, Grande Prairie saw 11 people die from an apparent fentanyl overdose.

The current rate is also less than half of that from all of 2019 in the Swan City, after 24 people died last year from an apparent overdose, creating a rate of 32.2 per 100,000 (the highest rate in the province).

The highest rate of fentanyl related deaths in the first quarter of this year was in Red Deer, which saw eight fatalities, and a rate of 28.9 per 100,000.

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Rate (per 100,000 persons) and number of apparent accidental drug poisoning deaths related to fentanyl, by municipality between January 1, 2016 to March 31, 2020. (Government of Alberta)

The report says that last year, on average, 131 individuals died from apparent accidental drug poisoning deaths related to fentanyl each quarter, while 167 individuals died per quarter in 2018.

Grande Prairie did have the highest rate of apparent accidental drug poisoning deaths related to an opioid other than fentanyl at 5.3 per 100,000 persons in the first three months, seeing one death in the first quarter of 2020. The North Zone saw two accidental deaths related to an opioid other than fentanyl in this time.

Rate and number of apparent accidental drug poisoning deaths related to an opioid other than fentanyl between January 1, 2016 to March 31, 2020. (Government of Alberta)

The Swan City did see a decrease regarding Emergency Medical Service (EMS) responses to opioid related events, seeing a decrease of 68 per cent. The report says that all major Alberta municipalities saw a decrease in the rate of EMS responses to opioid related events per 100,000 person years, compared to the 2019 annual rate.

Rate and count of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) responses to opioid related events, by year and municipality between January 1, 2018 to March 31, 2020. (Government of Alberta)

Red Deer and Lethbridge had the highest rates of EMS responses in the first three months of 2020.

Visits to the Supervised Consumption site in Grande Prairie also decreased compared to the last quarter by 14 per cent, with a total of 3,172 visits between January and March. There were nine attended adverse events per every 1,000 visits to the Grande Prairie SCS.