The alert was issued Tuesday afternoon after the WindsorEssex County Health Units surveillance and monitoring system identified an increase in opioidrelated Emergency Department visits and Emergency Medical Service calls between February 21 and February 27
A high number of opioid-related overdoses in the area has prompted an alert from The Windsor-Essex Community Opioid and Substance Strategy.
The alert was issued Tuesday afternoon after the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit's surveillance and monitoring system identified an increase in opioid-related Emergency Department visits and Emergency Medical Service calls between February 21 and February 27.
During that seven day period, there were a total of eight opioid overdoses reported by Windsor Regional Hospital and Erie Shores Healthcare, six of them involving fentanyl.
According to the local health unit, these values fall below its five-year historical average for that week, but are higher than its two-year average.
Windsor Regional Hospital also reported five fentanyl non-overdoses during that same time period.