Pubdate: Fri, 29 Jan 2016
Source: Daily Courier, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 The Okanagan Valley Group of Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/531
Author: Les Leyne
Page: A11

PANEL SEEKING WAYS TO REDUCE OVERDOSE DEATHS

Police roll out automatically to many 911 emergency calls involving
overdoses. That scares people on the scene of the overdose,
particularly young people. So they hesitate, or avoid making the call.
So a lot more young OD cases die than would if they got prompt
attention from emergency responders.

That's one of the premises a coroner's death review panel mentions
after looking at five years' worth of overdose deaths involving people
under 23 years of age. Various other studies have suggested that as a
factor, but the panel said it's unknown whether it applies directly in
the cases under review.

There were 182 deaths of youths and young adults over five years
ending in 2013, most in Vancouver, Victoria and Prince George. That's
182 separate tragedies that ripple and reverberate through countless
circles of friends and families. There are many more victims than just
the 26 children and 156 young adults who succumbed.

The panel doesn't confirm that fear of police involvement is a factor
in delaying emergency responses, because there are a lot of variables.
But it underlies the thinking behind a recommendation to better inform
young people that they should always call 911, no matter what, when
drug emergencies develop.

The death review panel was convened in 2014 to look at one narrowly
defined problem in all the issues around youth and drugs: How to
prevent deaths after overdoses.

Panel members looked at all 182 fatalities and found many of the youth
were in the company of someone at the time, while most of the young
adults died alone.

Most deaths were caused by mixing drugs and alcohol.

The panel "discovered that a primary issue resulting in these .=C2=85
deaths was a delay in seeking immediate medical intervention for the
person overdosing."

It recommends educating people to recognize the signs of an overdose
and reducing the barriers to seeking immediate assistance. Although
most police respond, the report said Vancouver police policy is to not
respond to non-fatal OD calls unless specifically requested, so as to
reduce the potential reluctance to get emergency help.

B.C. Emergency Health Services should promote the idea that "the
safety, health and wellbeing of persons requiring medical attention is
the paramount focus of police attendance at an overdose."

It also wants the First Nations Health Authority to look at getting
more access to naloxone, a drug that reverses OD effects. Twenty-three
per cent of the youth and 14 per cent of the young adults who had
fatal ODs were aboriginal.

Apart from possible concerns about police involvement, there's also
simple inertia. Panel chairman Michael Egilson said in a number of
cases, the people present at the overdose felt the victim could just
"sleep it off." In half the youth fatalities, the others present were
also using drugs.

Since many of the victims (77 per cent) were known to the Ministry of
Children and Family Development, he said the ministry should engage
with foster parents and youth networks to stress the importance of
recognizing ODs and calling 911 immediately.

Two of the deaths were outlined as representative of the
problem.

A youth was found cold and unresponsive after a house party. The
coroner found he'd used opioids, marijuana and alcohol at the party,
and gone into a bedroom with a friend. The friend noticed his
breathing was heavy and consulted with another person. The concerns
were discounted after the youth in question said he was OK. He went to
bed and couldn't be revived the next day.

He'd been released from youth custody a month earlier and had a
history of drug abuse and challenges.

In another case, a young person was found unresponsive on the bathroom
floor of a friend's house where he was staying the weekend. They'd
been drinking earlier, but split up and the victim - with a history of
ODs - consumed some drugs alone before returning to the home. People
suspected he was under the influence, but no calls were made until it
was too late.

JUST SO YOU KNOW: There's one glimmer of good news in the report. It
was originally to include the overdose and poisoning deaths of
children. But there weren't any over that five-year time frame. That's
taken as an indication that efforts to reduce such deaths in younger
children are working.
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