Red Pheasant Cree Nation declares state of emergency after 8 weekend overdoses

Red Pheasant Cree Nation in Saskatchewan has declared a declare a state of emergency after eight apparent overdoses over the weekend. Red Pheasant is about 105 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon.

Audrey Bouvier, health director at Red Pheasant Cree Nation, said the community had four overdoses on Friday, three on Saturday and one on Sunday. None of the eight overdoses were fatal, as emergency services responded in time.

"We're sitting at eight overdoses at this time. We were also able to get our staff at the health clinic, and our nurses to deliver Narcan to each household to prevent the overdoses and the death rate," she said.

Bouvier said these numbers are corroborated by ambulance visits. She said many "want to keep it discreet" and do not call for ambulances. Bouvier said there could have been up to seven overdoses on Friday, although ambulances only responded to four.

She said this crisis is mainly caused by the proliferation of fentanyl in the community. She thanked local nurses for preventing deaths.

''They were able to do CPR and Narcan. Narcan is what saved ... the overdoses in the community.''

She added that since the beginning of the year, more than 10 deaths related to overdose were reported in the community that has about 900 residents. 

"We were having funerals every week at that time.… Right now, the overdoses are in such an increase in our youth."

Training in naloxone use did help to decrease overdoses in the community, Bouvier said, but they recently shot up again. The community will be providing more training in the week.

"I barely got any sleep this weekend. I was on call this weekend doing my job as a health director to prevent any deaths."

Need more beds: spokesperson

Austin Ahenakew, a spokesperson for Red Pheasant Cree Nation, told CBC News Monday that there were eight overdoses over three days and not seven in one day, as stated in an earlier news release.

"They're all recovering. There were no deaths from Red Pheasant members."

He said the community needs more access to health care.

"It's the availability of detox, rehabilitation and recovery beds. That's our biggest problem right now," he said.

"We do not have a detox centre, no treatment centre. We have none."

Ahenakew said the community is trying to figure out how to fast track finding people beds for treatment or detox.

"We found that if there's any delay in getting that person to treatment, we're too late. If there are no beds, we don't have anywhere to send them."

Ahenakew said they have seen people go back to substance use while waiting for a bed. He said the community needs more treatment centres.

"We also need help from the provincial government to deploy RCMP units to the areas needing the help. We have drug dealers on reserve, but we can't go in and do anything about that. We need help in curtailing drug activity on or around the reserve."

Battlefords RCMP say they are increasing patrols at Red Pheasant Cree Nation and working collaboratively with local leadership and health services.

"Our detachment has engaged support units such as resources from our Battlefords Gang Task Force and General Investigation Sections as well as the Saskatchewan RCMP's Crime Reduction Team, to provide increased physical police presence and increased investigational capacity in the community," Insp. Jesse Gilbert, officer in charge of Battlefords RCMP, said in a Tuesday news release.

"What we need from the community is any information related to the presence of illicit substances."

Red Pheasant announced Monday evening that it was instituting a 10 p.m. curfew for anyone under the age of 16.

In an emailed statement, the Ministry of Health said increasing treatment options and expanding addictions services is a priority for the province.

The ministry said there are more than 450 addictions treatment spaces in the province and that work is underway to add at least 150 more.

"Every week we are burying somebody to opioid and crystal meth. Every week somebody is dying. What are the federal and provincial governments doing? Not a damn thing," FSIN Vice-Chief David Pratt said Tuesday.

He said governments need to provide more support to combat the regional opioid crisis in the communities. 

"Red Pheasant is one of them. Buffalo River Dene Nation has done it too. FSIN fully supports them in their state of emergencies and advocacy."

Asked for comment, a spokesperson for the office of the minister of Indigenous services said Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) provided $275,000 in the 2023-24 budget to support the Battlesford Agency Tribal Council creating a community-led mental wellness team. They also said ISC has deployed three wellness officers to the community since Sept. 1 and has now deployed a fourth.

Complex issue: Chief

Red Pheasant leaders said in a Sunday news release that residents are living in fear due to the rise of violence linked to drug consumption, and that some are reluctant to co-operate with RCMP.

''The drug problem in our community is a serious and complex issue that requires a co-ordinated and effective response from various stakeholders," Chief Lux Benson said in the release. 

"One of the key partners we need in this effort is the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), who have the mandate and the expertise to enforce the law and disrupt the supply of illicit substances. We urge the RCMP to step up and help us address this challenge by increasing their presence, resources and collaboration.''

In the release, the leadership called on the provincial and federal governments to meet with the Cree Nation and develop a health-care strategy.