B.C. paramedics responded to overdoses about every 20 minutes in 2020: report

published on January 20, 2021 by Nikitha Martins and Bailey Nicholson in CityNews (News 1130)

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — B.C. paramedics were kept incredibly busy last year responding to just over 27,000 overdoses — averaging 74 calls every day or one call every 20 minutes.

According to B.C. Emergency Health Services, in 2020, paramedics responded to more overdose calls than ever before.

And behind the staggering number, Guy Felicella with the B.C. Centre on Substance Use says there are significant losses.

“Behind every loss is a story of somebody that loved life… These are people, and circumstances happen in people’s lives, and traumas happen in people’s lives, and nobody chooses to become addicted to drugs, and nobody would choose to die of an overdose,” he says…