Pubdate: Thu, 21 Jul 2016
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Page: 17
Copyright: 2016 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.theprovince.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Tiffany Crawford

PEMBERTON MEDICAL TEAM AND HEALTH OFFICIALS DIFFER ON OVERDOSES AT FESTIVAL

Health officials say 104 people from the Pemberton Music Festival 
were treated at a medical clinic or hospital, including at least two 
who overdosed.

Those numbers, however, are significantly different from the tally 
provided by Rockdoc, the contracted medical team at last weekend's 
festival, which said Wednesday that eight people were taken to hospital.

"We are pleased to report again this year, the vast majority of 
festival participants were safely cared for on the event site, 
assuring that the regional emergency services were preserved to 
support the local communities," Kaitlyn Burke, general manager of 
Rockdoc Consulting, said.

Burke said the eight people were hospitalized for typical injuries 
and conditions, including diabetes, simple fractures, kidney stones, 
and other conditions.

However, Vancouver Coastal Health reported Wednesday 50 people from 
the festival, including two who overdosed, were treated at the 
Pemberton Health Centre, 28 were treated in Whistler, eight were 
treated in Squamish and 18 ended up at Lions Gate Hospital.

Burke confirmed Rockdoc's medical team administered naloxone - which 
is used to reverse opioid overdoses - despite an earlier assertion 
there had been no overdoses at the festival.

"There certainly were intoxicated patients treated and seen in the 
medical tent, however only one receiving multiple doses of naloxone 
and only one patient transported to hospital, where that person was 
subsequently treated and released," she wrote in an email.

Burke said nearly 200,000 revellers turned out for the festival, and 
with such a large crowd, health conditions and emergencies were expected.

Last week, B.C.'s provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall 
cautioned party people about mixing illicit drugs because of the 
ongoing fentanyl crisis and the possibility that recreational drugs 
like ecstasy may be laced with the potentially deadly opioid.

The warning followed a coroner's report that showed in the first half 
of 2016 there were 371 deaths from illicit drug overdose, an increase 
of 74.2 per cent from the same time period in 2015.

Sixty per cent of those deaths showed fentanyl detected in toxicology 
tests, either alone or, more often, in combination with other illicit drugs.

On Monday, as crews were packing up the festival, a 21-year-old West 
Vancouver man was taken to hospital in serious condition after a 
stabbing involving two employees of the festival.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom