Fraser Valley – The “other epidemic or pandemic’ that has been lost in the COVID media coverage.
Since the overdose crisis really took hold in 2015/16, the response by BC Emergency Health Services, paramedics, police and fire has been staggering.
In numbers released this week by BCEHS, the Fraser Valley has seen a 50 per cent increase in these calls.
From fentanyl to carfentanyl to benzos, the numbers do not show any slowdown.
The numbers provided are OD calls. The BC Coroner releases the actual monthly death count at the end of each month (which FVN provides).
The drug trade through gangs has not let up either, as Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit – British Columbia (CFSEU-BC) constantly goes to social media with dramatic video that youth seduced by gangs with the lure or money and drugs is a dead end, literally.
To see the number of calls broken down by year, from 2016 to 2021, see Overdose Response in B.C. Communities (PDF).
Communities 2020 to 2021 Increase:
Abbotsford 936 to 1,368
Agassiz 33 to 60
Chilliwack 548 to 821
Hope 46 to 80
Langley 593 to 770
Maple Ridge 492 to 908
