The opioid crisis has taken many lives since it first took hold in British Columbia, and a new study says a reluctance to call 911 is making matters worse.
A group of B.C. researchers has found less than half of people in an overdose situation are willing to seek emergency medical help in the event of an overdose, because of concerns over dealing with police.
The study states, "Reluctance to seek emergency medical help (i.e., by calling 9-1-1) has been identified as a barrier to optimal care for overdose victims.”
Out of the 201 overdose incidents recorded on Vancouver Island, only 93 called police.
The cross-sectional study analyzed and reviewed administrative records involving 2,350 overdose incidents dating from July 2015 to December 2017 in British Columbia.
The information was collected from participants when they received their replacement Naloxone kits from distribution centres across the province.
The participants are part of BC’s “Take Home Naloxone” (THN) program that provides life-saving training and kits to people at risk of an opioid overdose.
They authors of the study recommend overdose awareness and educational campaigns should further stress the importance of calling 911 and not using alone.
You can find the full study here.
