Overdoses mount in Hamilton after record month for paramedic calls

In tucked-away corners of inner-city Hamilton, the twin crises of homelessness and overdoses continue to collide with deadly consequences on the grim heels of yet another record month for paramedic calls.

When Dale MacNevin found the man's body in a tent near Central Park after a suspected overdose, it wasn't the first time he had seen an untimely death on the street up close.

I've experienced it a lot, but it doesn't get any easier," MacNevin, 68, who has lived in an encampment on the Bay Street North side of the park for about a month, said as police probed the scene Wednesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, on the other side of downtown, Kimmy Taylor recalled how an hour or so earlier she'd grabbed a Narcan kit at John-Rebecca Park and rushed to the aid of a woman who'd overdosed outside a nearby building.

She was blue," Taylor recalled, noting staff from nearby Wesley Urban Ministries and paramedics also helped save the woman's life after several attempts. We brought her back."

Citing a need for deeper analysis, police and paramedics weren't immediately able to say how many other suspected overdoses they responded to that day.

But the brush with death Taylor witnessed and the fatality by Central Park are two indicators among many of a deepening overdose crisis that set a monthly record for local paramedic calls with 103 by Aug. 29.

That is a concerning increase in opioid overdoses, for sure," paramedic superintendent Dave Thompson said Friday, noting the calls average out to about 25 per week.

The August total eclipses a previous high of 92 in June since the city started tracking paramedic responses to suspected opioid overdoses in 2017.

Thompson noted the latest trends more resemble a steady incline" than the earlier seesaw-type pattern" of previous years.

The periodic increases also coincide with an alarming overall rise in overdoses during the pandemic that drug users, first responders, harm-reduction workers and a provincial study have flagged.

Last year in Hamilton, there were 124 probable or confirmed opioid-related deaths in 2020, the highest local annual total yet. This year, as of March, there were 44, according to the city's latest posted figure.

Taylor says she has lost count" of how many people in her social circle have died over the years.

She points to a preponderance of poorly mixed cocktails of street drugs that can make dosing an unpredictable and deadly gamble.

It's like playing Russian Roulette every time," Taylor said a day after people gathered in John-Rebecca Park on Aug. 31 for Overdose Awareness Day to remember those who have died.

Mixed with fentanyl, a powerful opioid, are benzodiazepines, a group of sedatives that can make it more difficult to revive people with naloxone, which is available as Narcan nasal spray.

Cheri Fraser says a friend in her 30s took such a mix Sunday before she found her unresponsive in a tent they were sharing at Beasley Park.

I thought she was sleeping," recalled Fraser this week at the inner-city park where a few people have set up an encampment.

In 2020, in cases when Hamilton police officers were first on scene to respond to suspected overdoses, they administered 131 doses of naloxone.

In 68 instances, the patient regained consciousness. In 70 cases, they were taken to hospital, but may have also responded to the naloxone.

So far this year, police have administered 120 doses. In 63 instances, the patients were revived, and in 58, transported to hospital.

In both periods, fentanyl was by far the most commonly identified substance, according to information from people or evidence at the scene and absent lab analysis.

In response to the volatile market of street drugs, health-care and harm-reduction workers have called for a local program that offers a safer supply of prescribed drugs, such as hydromorphone, to treat addictions.

But Hamilton also needs more spaces where people can use drugs under the supervision of trained staff, Taylor says.

That's saving lives," she said of the consumption and treatment services (CTS) at Hamilton Urban Core Community Health Centre.

In March 2019, council directed public health to pursue a second CTS site for Hamilton, but the effort went nowhere, with officials saying staff weren't able to find a location after considering dozens of addresses.

Most recently, however, the local AIDS Network announced it hopes to help fill the gap, having secured a location in Ward 3 for a CTS and applied for provincial approval.

We are seeking municipal support and beginning our community engagement, both of which are application requirements," executive director Tim McClemont said in an email but declined to comment further.

Emergency shelters should also embrace" drug use in their buildings by providing supervised settings rather than adhering to prohibitive policies that push residents to use furtively and dangerously in washroom stalls, Taylor says.

At Central Park, Gord Smyth was with MacNevin when they came across the apparent overdose victim, who police say was in his mid-40s, during a walkabout to check on people sleeping rough in the area.

We don't do any drugs," said Smyth, a 54-year-old who has lived in the park since July. But we want to look after everyone else."

He drew a direct link between a lack of affordable housing and the death of the man he didn't know.

How are you supposed to treat this gentleman for his drug habits and everything? He doesn't even have a secure place to go?"

Sadly, there are many cases like this one, MacNevin points out. There's all kind of them all over the place that don't get noticed."

Teviah Moro is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: tmoro@thespec.com