'Eerie quiet': No overdoses in Yellowknife over weekend after 8 in 48 hours last week

There have been no overdoses in Yellowknife since Friday, according to health officials, after eight near-fatal overdoses in a 48-hour period last week.  

N.W.T.'s chief public health officer issued a warning on Friday about illicit opioid drugs that could be laced with fentanyl or some other high-potency compound, after eight near-fatal drug overdoses were treated at the emergency department at Stanton Territorial Hospital.

"What has happened is almost an eerie quiet," said Dr. David Pontin, who runs Stanton's emergency department.

"I'd like to think that our warning on Friday played some part."

• Yellowknife's ER saw 8 fentanyl overdoses in the past 48 hours

Pontin says the hospital hasn't received any test results back identifying which drugs caused the patients to overdose but he's confident it's fentanyl.

"You can tell by the way that patients look, by the way that they behave and the way that we can treat them that it is some type of extremely potent type of medication that would be in the class of opioids and we suspect that it is this really heavy-duty street fentanyl."

Pontin was in the emergency room for three of the eight overdoses that came in on Thursday and Friday. That's when he says he decided to raise the alarm.

"I talked to public health about it in the middle of the night on Thursday and then we did an official count and realized we had a lot more cases on our hands then we had thought."

Advisory warns other N.W.T. communities to be on high alert

Friday's public health advisory says fentanyl and its related compounds are extremely potent and can cause immediate and unexpected overdoses, even in frequent users who have high levels of drug tolerance.

The advisory also warns against touching or handling any suspect substance. It says unintentional exposure to pure fentanyl, through touching or inhaling, can cause serious harm including death.

Posters describing the symptoms of overdoses are going up downtown. The advisory says that even though health officials are only aware of overdoses having happened in Yellowknife, the drugs could be available in other N.W.T. communities and the public should be "on high alert."

Signs and symptoms of overdose can include the following:

• Breathing will be slow or absent
• Lips and nails are blue
• Person is not moving
• Person is choking
• Gurgling sounds or snoring
• Severe sleepiness
• Person can't be woken up
• Skin feels cold and clammy

If you suspect an overdose, call an ambulance or your local health centre.