Pubdate: Mon, 08 Oct 2012
Source: Record, The (Kitchener, CN ON)
Copyright: 2012 The Record
Contact:   http://news.therecord.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/225

FEAR OF ARREST PUTS OVERDOSE VICTIMS IN JEOPARDY: REPORT

WATERLOO REGION - Fear of arrest is the main barrier to calling 911 
in drug overdose emergencies, a local report has found.

Overdose victims need immediate medical help. Seconds matter, said 
Michael Parkinson of the Crime Prevention Council of Waterloo Region, 
which authored the report - the first of its kind in Canada.

"This is very much a life and death issue," Parkinson said.

Called Between Life and Death: The Barriers to Calling 911 during an 
Overdose Emergency, this 55-page report includes results of a survey 
of 450 drug users who said, fear of arrest was the main reason for 
not calling 911.

The survey also found those most likely to witness an overdose are 
the least likely to call.

Parkinson said a recent court case illustrates the problem.

Last August, a Kitchener courtroom heard a 19-year-old woman almost 
died of an overdose because she and her boyfriend feared arrest if 
they told police or medical authorities that they had used methadone.

The woman spent almost two weeks in hospital after her heart stopped 
and she was put in a medically induced coma.

Her boyfriend, Maxim Vasilieva, 21, eventually told people about 
their drug use after methadone was found in her system and he was 
confronted by police.

Vasilieva was convicted of methadone trafficking and was given an 
18-month conditional sentence.

"It is a good example of what goes wrong in a medical emergency," 
Parkinson said.

The Crime Prevention report also highlighted two options used in 
other jurisdictions to reduce this impediment to calling 911.

The options are:

* Vancouver police do not attend non-fatal overdoses unless there is 
a public safety concern. They are the only police in Canada to adopt 
this practice.

* Eight states in the United States have Good Samaritan laws 
providing immunity from prosecution for drug possession charges to 
overdose victims and bystanders who seek aid in these emergencies.

In Washington State, where the Good Samaritan law exists, 88 per cent 
of opiate users said they are more likely to call 911 because of the 
new law, according to a University of Washington report dated November 2011.

This issue is timely, as Waterloo Regional Police say there have been 
nine cases of suspected heroin overdoses in recent month, six of them fatal.

This increase in heroin use has been linked to the Ontario 
government's decision to remove the opiate OxyContin from the market 
last March because of concerns the strong painkiller was being abused.

Addicts are now switching to heroin.

This troubling rise in heroin overdoses led the regional health unit 
to issue bulletin alerting agencies that work with drug addicts about 
the risk of overdose.

Anecdotally, paramedics have seen a rise in heroin overdoses, said 
John Prno, chief of the regional ambulance service.

Last year, the regional ambulance service went to 560 overdose 911 
calls. The calls are not broken down by drugs.

Prno said he would prefer police to attend overdose medical 
emergencies for the safety of his paramedics.

It is easier for police to be there and leave if not needed, than 
calling police when there is trouble, Prno said.

In Vancouver, Insp. Scott Thompson said police stopped going to 
routine drug overdoses, starting in 2004, because of research in 
Australia that found that, while many drug overdoses are witnessed, 
often there is a reluctance to call for emergency medical help for 
fear of prosecution.

"Our idea around this is we might prevent people from dying if we 
reduced the reluctance to call police," Thompson said in a telephone interview.

Overdose deaths have decreased in Vancouver over the past decade, but 
Thompson said it is difficult to say whether it is a result of the 
policy or the city's safe drug injection site or a combination of both.

Asked why other Canadian police agencies haven't adopted this policy, 
Thompson said his "best guess" is that other police departments still 
view their role "being very much a law enforcement role."

"We look at it from a medical standpoint. What are we bringing to 
that scene beyond standing by while emergency health services are 
providing care to the individual?

But Waterloo Regional Police Chief Matt Torigian said police in 
Ontario are legislated under the Police Services Act to assist 
victims, enforce laws and respond to emergencies, and therefore, 
cannot adopt the Vancouver practice.

"Currently, the way things are, we can't do this," Torigian said.

The other concern, he said is that "the crime that may go undetected 
is one where serious harm may have been brought to the victim. It is 
not in the community's interest to allow that to go undetected."

Torigian said police are often the first to arrive at an emergency, 
so a policy that deters officers from attending overdoses could delay 
medical help.

"First priority of police is to get help for the person," said the 
chief, adding that police seldom lay charges in overdose incidents.

But Parkinson said just one charge laid by police would be enough to 
deter people from calling 911.

"You can't educate people into calling 911 if their perception is 
that police will attend," he said.

The Crime Prevention Council has adopted the report in principle and 
has established a committee to review it and report back to the 
council by the end of the year.

"The acid test is we know there are barriers to calling 911. The 
question is what, if anything, will this community do about it?" Parkinson said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom