Overdose alert issued for Saskatoon as April begins with surge in drug poisonings

Jeremy Warren · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 04, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Suspected overdoses caused by a toxic cause proviso successful Saskatoon are surging again aft plateauing in caller weeks, according to caller information from the Saskatoon Fire Department.

In the archetypal 24 hours of April, crews responded to 21 calls for assistance with suspected overdoses, the section said. Calls had levelled disconnected to astir 10 per time astatine the extremity of March, but present front-line workers are bracing for a sustained spike overdose reports aft consecutive days of higher than mean calls.

Late Thursday afternoon, the province's Health Ministry issued an "overdose alert" for Saskatoon based connected the rise successful suspected cases reported by the occurrence section and Prairie Harm Reduction.

"Dangerous drugs are successful the area," the alert stated. "There is simply a higher hazard of overdose and decease from drugs successful the metropolis of Saskatoon."

Testing shows a perchance lethal substance of fentanyl and chartless substances, the alert stated.

Prairie Harm Reduction said successful a connection it tested an orange-coloured substance that contained fentanyl.

"We promote radical to usage harm simplification strategies, specified arsenic cause checking and carrying naloxone, to trim the risks associated with substance use," the non-profit's connection said.

The occurrence section says it responded to 837 calls for suspected overdoses from Jan. 1 to March 31, much than treble the 324 calls implicit the aforesaid clip play past year. In March, determination were 509 calls, compared to 115 successful 2024.

"We fishy that we've really got an underestimate of the fig of calls that the occurrence section has responded to," said Pamela Goulden-McLeod, the manager of the city's exigency absorption organization.

The occurrence section is combing done data gathered from overdose calls successful caller months to larn much astir the crisis. 

It's important to co-ordinate the data collected by governments and assemblage organizations, Goulden-McLeod said.

"You request to marque data-driven decisions to travel up with the champion mode to mitigate this issue," she said. "And the conflict is, until we person that data-driven information, [deciding] what are our adjacent steps is hard."

Data postulation and collation is portion of the occupation of the province's exigency operations centre, which was activated to assistance co-ordinate the metropolis departments and assemblage organizations moving connected the overdose crisis. 

"We are ever checking assets levels to marque definite everybody has the resources they need," Goulden-McLoud said. 

"Does Prairie Harm, does the Westside Clinic request much naloxone? Do they request much container valve masks? Do they request much oxygen?"

Prairie Harm Reduction reopens

Prairie Harm Reduction reopened connected March 31 aft closing for 11 days to springiness its exhausted unit a break. The drop-in centre is backmost to afloat work and unfastened regular from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., portion its supervised depletion tract lone opens when a paramedic is available, it said successful a statement.

Nine radical died of a suspected overdose successful Saskatoon during the archetypal 4 weeks of March, according to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency. The fig volition apt ascent erstwhile the provincial coroner's bureau releases information connected suspected cause toxicity deaths for March, which is expected immoderate clip this week.

On March 21, the Saskatoon Public Library temporarily closed 2 branches for a period implicit concerns for unit information and well-being. Employees aren't trained to grip the aesculapian emergencies and progressively unsafe situations happening successful immoderate libraries, according to the national that represents the library workers.

The Frances Morrison Central Library successful the downtown and the Dr. Freda Ahenakew room connected 20th Street W. are acceptable to reopen April 21.