Windsor-Essex's opioid overdose notification system has issued an alert covering higher-than-usual activity.
The Windsor-Essex Community Opioid and Substance Strategy (WECOSS) has noted an increase in opioid-related emergency department visits in the region between September 26 and October 2, triggering an alert.
WECOSS reported 14 opioid-related overdoses reported by Windsor Regional Hospital that week. Eight of them involved fentanyl.
"These values exceed our five-year historical average for the current week in question by more than two standard deviations above the mean, read the WECOSS alert.
There were also seven consecutive days of substance-use-related ambulance calls during that week, with half involving three calls to Essex-Windsor EMS in one day. There were 14 EMS calls in all.
This alert is the eighth issued during the calendar year 2022.
WECOSS is a group of agencies that include the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, Windsor-Essex municipalities including the City of Windsor, Windsor police, Ontario Provincial Police, LaSalle police, Essex-Windsor EMS, Windsor Regional Hospital, Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, and others.
Complete information on the alert, and how to recognize an opioid overdose. can be found on the WECOSS official website.
