Pubdate: Wed, 04 Jan 2017
Source: Medicine Hat News (CN AB)
Copyright: 2017 Alberta Newspaper Group, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.medicinehatnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1833
Author: Gillian Slade
Page: A3

AHS: BIGGEST INCREASE IN OVERDOSE EMERGENCIES RELATED TO HEROIN USE

The biggest increase in drug overdose emergencies relates to heroin use,
says Alberta Health Services.

Poisoning by heroin in 2015 accounted for three emergency department
visits. That number shot up to 12 in the first 10 months of 2016 alone,
across Alberta Health Services' south zone, which includes Medicine Hat
and Lethbridge.

Across Alberta there were 338 heroin related emergency department visits
in 2015. From Jan. 1, 2016 to Oct. 31, 2016 only there were 513 visits.

There were 257 deaths associated with fentanyl in the south zone in 2015.
In only the first six months of 2016 that number reached 153, said a
spokesperson for AHS.

Emergency department visits, that included fentanyl overdoses but not
limited to, were 197 in 2015. For the first 10 months alone in 2016 that
number reached 194 in the south zone, said AHS.

"As a province, we are facing an unprecedented increase in fentanyl and
opioid substance use disorders," said Dr. Nick Mitchell, senior medical
director, addictions and mental health strategic clinical network with
AHS.

Poisoning by synthetic narcotics resulted in 59 emergency department
visits in the south zone throughout 2015. That number climbed to 67 for
the first 10 months alone of 2016, said AHS.

"Like our partners in government and in the private sector, we are working
to provide treatment for those addicted to fentanyl and other opioids,
while focusing efforts on understanding and addressing the root causes of
the issue," said Mitchell.

AHS is focused on several key areas including expanding programming to
reduce harm associated with addiction, improving access to treatment, and
increasing public awareness and education, said Mitchell.

AHS is monitoring the numbers and believes naloxone interventions has the
potential to impact the statistics, said a spokesperson for AHS. Naloxone
is provided at the Medicine Hat Recovery Centre, is also available at
hospital emergency departments, pharmacies, and through community clinics.

"We know one of the best approaches to help treat opioid and fentanyl
misuse is medically assisted treatment (methadone or buprenorphine) in
addition to counselling and other social support services," said Mitchell.

Opioid dependency programs provides methadone or suboxone maintenance
treatment in an outpatient setting. It can also be initiated in hospital,
prison, or detox, and then continued in an outpatient setting. Patients
are stabilized on methadone or suboxone under close medical supervision,
said Mitchell.

"When they are properly prescribed and dispensed, a person on either
medication is able to function normally with no drowsiness and no
withdrawal symptoms," said Mitchell. "When taken as prescribed, both
methadone and suboxone are safe medications and can be taken over a long
term."

The ultimate goal is to get people off of methadone/suboxone but some
people remain on those medications indefinitely, said Mitchell. There is
the potential over time for the person to reach the point where they are
slowly weaned off those medications under the direction of their treatment
team when they feel it is safe to do so.

"However, not everyone makes it to that point," said Mitchell.

Many of the people in emergency departments, who are dying from fentanyl
overdoses, tend to be younger males who don't often have a history of
prescription opioid use, Mitchell told the News recently.
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