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3 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,D ecem ber 5,2019 insidehalton.com AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS for the year ended August 31, 2019 are available on the Board Website www.hcdsb.org Copies are also available upon request. P. DeRosa P. Daly Chair of the Board Director of Education Deaths from opioid overdoses in Halton may be on the decline de- spite an overall increase in the number of overdoses regionwide. The Halton Public Health De- partment's associate medical offi- cer of health Dr. Julie Emili noted during a Thursday, Nov. 28 presen- tation before the Halton Police Board that from January to June 2019, there were a total of 12 opioid- related deaths among Halton resi- dents. If this trend continues to the end of the year, this would be a signif- icant decrease from the 44 opioid- related deaths among Halton resi- dents in 2018. It should be pointed out that the 2019 data only covers January to June, and Halton police reportedJune, and Halton police reportedJ two fatal suspected overdoses on Nov. 18 alone. Emili said the estimate for 2019 is also subject to the Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario determin- ing whether some suspected opioid overdoses were actually opioid overdoses. "It's hard to know. Is that truly a decrease, or have we just not gotten all the reports from the coroner's office," said Emili. "I would hope that it is a true de- crease and it's reflective of all the hard work we are doing in terms of getting the message out of how to use safely, of what services in the community are available to help you and then getting naloxone intoyou and then getting naloxone intoy as many hands as possible through police, fire, pharmacies." While the number of overdose fatalities may be going down, thefatalities may be going down, thef number of opioid overdoses ap- pears to be on the increase. The Halton Region noted that between Jan. 1 and Oct. 31, there were 189 ambulance calls for sus- pected opioid overdoses in Halton, which is up from 116 calls during the same period in 2018. This total includes 15 ambu- lance calls for suspected overdoses during October alone. There were also 167 emergency room visits by Halton residents for a confirmed opioid overdose be- tween Jan. 1 and Oct. 31 - up from 147 visits during the same period in 2018. Emili noted that opioid over- doses are on the increase province- wide. It was also pointed out that 224 naloxone kits have been distrib- uted through the Halton Region's Harm Reduction Program in the last 12 months. The Region said 273 naloxone kits were distributed by pharma- cies to Halton residents in April 2019 alone. Jennifer Hartman, co-ordinator of Halton Police Corporate Com- munications, said Halton police have worked hard to get overdose prevention messaging out to the public. One message calls on those pre- sent when someone has an over- dose to not run but call 911, noting that Ontario's Good Samaritan Act protects the caller from prosecu- tion. Other messaging calls on those using drugs not to use alone; to know their tolerance and go slow; and raises awareness that any drug can be contaminated. When asked by board member Gary Burkett why the messaging focused on safe drug use ratherfocused on safe drug use ratherf than drug prevention, Emili noted that messaging calling for drug us- ers to abstain from drugs would not be effective. "Ideally, we want people not to use, but we have to recognize there is a large group of users who will not respond to that message and so we have to meet people where they are at ... Many will turn off as soon as they hear the message is stop us- ing," she said. Hartman said that Halton police will also raise alerts in the event of: • a cluster of overdoses (6-12) within a 48-hour time period; • overdoses and/or drug sei- zures featuring counterfeit drugs or contaminated drugs; and • a cluster of overdoses at a sin- gle location (e.g., a school). gle location (e.g., a school). g Halton police and the Halton Re- gion representatives say they are continuing to gather data and in- formation to learn how to furtherformation to learn how to furtherf reduce the number of deaths from opioid overdose in this community. NEWS FATAL OVERDOSES MAY BE ON THE DECLINE ASSOCIATE MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH HOPES DECLINE IS REFLECTIVE OF INITIATIVES LIKE NALOXONE DISTRIBUTION DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com Torstar file photo. Chris Simon/Torstar