A community alert is being issued after an increase in opioid-related overdoses in Windsor-Essex.
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit’s surveillance and monitoring system has identified an increase in the number of opioid-related Emergency Department visits and substance use-related Emergency Medical Service (EMS) calls between June 20 and June 26.
Over a seven-day period, there were a total of nine opioid overdoses reported by Windsor Regional Hospital and Erie Shores Healthcare combined, with seven of the overdoses involving fentanyl.
There were also two fentanyl non-overdoses reported during this same time period.
Officials say these values are are above the five-year historical average and above the two-year historical average for the current week in question.
Alongside the emergency department visits, the system also identified three consecutive days of substance use-related EMS calls over this timeframe.
As such, based on the information available, a public alert is warranted.
Partners involved in the WECOSS, including the WECHU, Windsor Regional Hospital, Essex Windsor-EMS, Erie Shores Healthcare, and Police Services, continue to monitor this increase and are working to understand more about these reported cases.