For the second time in a week, 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 opioid-related Emergency Department visits and substance use-related Emergency Medical Service calls between June 27 and July 3.
Over the seven-day period, there were nine opioid overdoses reported by Windsor Regional Hospital, seven of which involved fentanyl.
These values exceed the two-year historical average by more than three standard deviations above the mean.
Four opioid non-overdoses were also reported by Windsor Regional Hospital during this same time period, three of which involved fentanyl.
Alongside the ED visits, there were also six consecutive days of substance use-related EMS calls flagged by the system between June 27 and July 2, with a total of fourteen calls received during that period.
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.
On June 29, an alert was issued after nine opioid overdoses with seven of the overdoses involving fentanyl between June 20 and June 26.