An increase in opioid overdoses in Windsor-Essex this week has triggered an alert.
The Windsor-Essex Community Opioid and Substance Strategy (WECOSS) has noted an increase in opioid-related emergency department visits in the region between November 3 and 9, prompting the system to issue an alert.
WECOSS reported 11 opioid-related overdoses during that time period. Four of them involved fentanyl.
"These values exceed our two-year and five-year historical average for the current week in question by more than two standard deviations above the mean," read the WECOSS alert. "These are values that warrant a public alert."
This alert is the ninth 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.
