Ottawa Paramedics say they responded to more than a dozen overdose calls in less than 10 hours overnight Friday, but say that's not necessarily out of the ordinary anymore.
Paramedics say 14 calls came in between 7:20 p.m. Friday and 4:20 a.m. Saturday and included both drug and alcohol overdoses.
They say while this is not unusual these days, they want to raise awareness of the increase in overdoses in the capital.
"This happens every day,” said Supt. Garth Tourangeau "There are vulnerable people in our society that unfortunately succumb to overdoses, whether it is accidental or deliberate, and alcohol intoxication, things like that happen all the time."
Typically 10 per cent of calls coming in on a Friday will be related to an overdose, Tourangeau says.
"We have numerous calls, they go up, and we have limited numbers of vehicles… our vehicles are stuck waiting at the hospital so they can offload us, and (the hospital) is busy too."
This is linked to a nationwide problem with many major cities seeing a rise in opioid related deaths. In Ottawa, 48 people died after overdosing in 2015, the last year for which data is available. Of those, 28 were related to opioids and 14 were related to fentanyl.
To help combat the problem, the province is pushing for more resources and education, but many health providers say it's not enough. Here in the capital, the Sandy Hill Community Health Centre has been pushing for a safe injection site, and one may soon be on the way with the federal government recently lifting 26 Harper government restrictions for supervised injection sites in Canada.
14 overdose calls on Friday night
· 1920 – Overdose in Kanata – 1 patient treated and transported to hospital
· 2018 – Alcohol Abuse in Kanata – 1 patient treated and released on scene
· 2054 – Overdose in the Crystal Beach area – 1 patient treated and released on scene
· 2127 – Alcohol Abuse in Kanata – 1 patient treated and transported to hospital
· 2336 – Overdose downtown – 1 patient treated and transported to hospital
· 0117 – Overdose in Orleans – 1 patient treated and transported to hospital
· 0211 – Alcohol Abuse downtown – 1 patient treated and transported to hospital
· 0257 – Alcohol Abuse downtown – 1 patient treated and released on scene
· 0315 – Alcohol Abuse downtown – 1 patient treated and released on scene
· 0344 – Overdose downtown – 1 patient treated and released on scene
· 0351 – Alcohol Abuse downtown – 1 patient treated and released on scene
· 0355 – Alcohol Abuse downtown – 1 patient treated and transported to hospital
· 0355 – Alcohol Abuse downtown – 1 patient treated and transported to hospital
· 0416 – Alcohol Abuse in Kanata – 1 patient treated and released on scene