The number of opioid-related Emergency Department (ED) visits in Lambton County so far this year is greater than the provincial average.
From January to March 2023, there was an average of 23.8 opioid-related visits per 100,000 population, compared to 16.3 Ontario-wide.
The figures were included in Lambton Public Health's (LPH) latest Opioid Bulletin.
Manager of Health Promotion Michael Gorgey said another concerning statistic was the number of opioid-related deaths in Lambton county last year, compared to the rest of Ontario.
There was a total of 33 locally in 2022.
"That number continued to exceed the provincial average in 2022," said Gorgey. "The rate for the province was about 16.7 deaths per 100,000 population. That number for Lambton was about 24.8. That's preliminary for 2022. The numbers can change for up to two years as the stats are investigated by the Chief Coroner."
The document also shows that EMS calls for overdoses are down so far this year in comparison to 2022. There were 50 between January and March, compared to 81 during the same time frame last year.
Gorgey said he doesn't have any rationale for why that's the case.
"We're seeing a bit lower volume on the EMS side," he said. "That doesn't mean the issue is abating in any way. On that front, we're just seeing a bit lower numbers this year. It'll take time to see if the trend continues, three months of information isn't a lot. Maybe we'll see over time if there's a sustained decrease, and then we can start to think about if that's due to the up-servicing that we're seeing in our outreach programs, or if the needle exchange or harm-reduction programs are having an impact. But, I wouldn't want to say that based on just three months of data."
Gorgey said there's a bit of variability when it comes to the number of EMS overdose calls month to month. There were 20 in March, compared to 13 in February, and Emergency Department visits increased from 10 to 12.
He said they're seeing an increase in demand for naloxone kits, which is something that Sarnia police have also been noticing.
"We've distributed 1,111 naloxone kits in the first quarter of this year, compared to 1,015 in the same time frame last year," said Gorgey. "Additionally, year-over-year we're seeing a rise with LPH and our partner organizations. Between 2022 and 2021, we saw 55 per cent more kits go out the door. I don't know exactly whether that is demand related or people are more aware that these kits are becoming more available. We're training folks, we're getting on board with partner organizations to distribute. Some of that demand could be coming from just more people giving out those kits. As the data comes in over the year, we can start making some inferences on that."
More information about Lambton Public Health's latest Opioid Bulletin can be found here:
