Heidi Callaghan and Tre Miller spent Thursday morning walking around downtown Moncton, N.B., checking on their friends.
Both had Narcan kits strapped to their waists in case someone suffering from an overdose needed to be revived.
“The last week has been really bad,” said Callaghan.
Since last Friday, Ambulance New Brunswick’s 911 dispatch team has responded to well over 100 overdose-related calls.
There were 20 calls from noon Wednesday until 11 a.m. Thursday.
From 3 p.m. Wednesday to 3 p.m. Thursday, the Moncton Fire Department responded to 16 overdose calls.
The department’s daily average as of late has been five calls.
Miller said he’s seen “lots and lots” of overdoses.
“There’s a new kind of strain that’s out and it’s super-duper strong,” he said.
Miller said the number of overdoses is “unprecedented” in his experience, and Callaghan hasn’t seen anything like this before.
“The drugs that are out now are insanely strong and they’re high in tranq (tranquillizers). People are dropping left, right and centre. I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Callaghan.
They’re currently staying in shelters while watching out for others in the homeless community.
Both believe a bad batch of fentanyl is still on the streets.
“Very much so,” said Callaghan.
Miller explained that many people using fentanyl will keep taking it even if they think it could be laced with something.
“Can’t waste it if you’ve already bought it,” said Miller. “The cheaper the drugs are the more unreliable and more unstable they are.”
Callaghan said it’s the need for the high that keeps people using and taking risks.
“Once you’ve bought that fentanyl, you’re going to do it because you want to get high. You need that high, you crave that high,” he explained.
New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt said the province is investigating to try to get as much information as possible from front-line agencies in Moncton about the spike in overdoses.
“They’re identifying it potentially to be connected with a particular strain of a bad drug, and we lean on our partners like Ensemble and others in these instances to get us the real information of what’s happening on the ground,” said Holt.
Holt went on to say the province is working hard to crack down on the supply entering New Brunswick and making its way to the streets of Moncton.
“There’s work that the team at Justice and Public Safety have been doing with extra resources to keep those kinds of drugs from even entering our province in order to keep New Brunswickers safe,” said Holt.
Miller said the people who produce the fentanyl will likely now dial it back a bit to make it less potent.
“There was a colour, beige, that was super reliable, super dependable, very stable, very cheap and consistent every time,” said Miller.
Purple is the dangerous colour right now, according to Callaghan.
“And they’re mixing it with, say, beige, to make it less potent, and people are doing that,” said Callaghan.
In a statement to CTV News, Ambulance New Brunswick said any situation involving a suspected overdose is challenging for the person experiencing the medical emergency and for the responders.
“We recognize that responding to serious and often traumatic scenes can be challenging for our personnel,” reads the statement. “Supporting the well-being of our employees remains a top priority and a range of supports are available to staff when needed.”
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