Canadian Press File Photo

By Shaun Penner

Opioid Surveillance Report

No fentanyl-related overdose deaths in GP in third quarter of 2019: Report

Dec 24, 2019 | 10:22 AM

The latest report from Alberta Health on opioid related poisoning deaths in 2019 shows a dramatic drop in the fatality rate here in Grande Prairie.

The rate per 100,000 dropped from 51 at the end of June, to 34 in the third quarter of 2019, after no reported fatalities occurred as a result of a fentanyl-related overdose between July and September.

The rate for Grande Prairie continues to be the highest in the province though, as 19 people died from a fentanyl overdose in the first half of the year here in the Swan City. Lethbridge has the second highest rate among Alberta’s major municipalities, with a rate of 20.4 per 100,000.

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

In the North Zone as a whole, 41 people have died this year from a reported fentanyl-related poisoning, creating a rate of 11.3 per 100,000 for 2019.

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Province-wide, 458 people have succumbed to an opioid-related overdose (fentanyl or otherwise), which is down from the same time last year, which saw a total of 576 fatalities through the first nine months of the year.

EMS services here 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 169 times for such events. The rate per 100,000 is the second highest in the province, only behind Lethbridge.

Alberta Health adds the province-wide fatality rate is down 20 per cent from the 2018 rate, while also being down six per cent from 2017.