City officials and community partners from local emergency services, Hastings Prince Edward Public Health and Quinte Health addressed the media during a press conference at City Hall this morning to provide an update following the significant number of drug overdoses that occurred in the downtown area yesterday afternoon.
Emergency services responded to a total of 17 overdoses over the past 24 hours, 14 of which occurred between the hours of 2 and 4 p.m. yesterday. During this time, traffic downtown was being redirected to ensure that emergency access routes remained open to allow emergency services to respond to these calls. The streets are now clear and there has never been a threat to the public.
“This is a very unfortunate event,” said Mayor Neil Ellis. “It’s not the first occurrence and it won’t be the last. Like many municipalities across the province and country, we have a very serious drug, addictions and mental health crisis in our city. Our Police and Emergency Services are working around the clock and an immense amount of municipal resources are going toward this issue on a daily basis. We need support from the provincial government on how we move forward with this crisis. It is a crisis that is not specific to Belleville, it is a provincial and federal issue. We need to be part of a larger plan, focusing on harm reduction and rehabilitation. As a Municipality, we are ready to help and do whatever we can to be part of the solution, but we need some guidance.”
“Last night’s events resulted in enormous pressure on our emergency services as a whole,” said Belleville Police Chief Mike Callaghan. “While we are fortunate that there were no casualties during this incident, we know this is an issue that will only continue to grow in our community and nation-wide. While we continue to lobby for a more wholesome approach to the mental health and addition crisis we are facing across the province and country, we have called in our partners from emergency services, public health and Quinte Health to work together to develop operational scenarios for addressing similar events to ensure our respective departments are equipped to handle these situations in the most efficient and effective way possible moving forward.”
We wish to remind all those in our community who must use drugs, to take steps to protect themselves by avoiding mixing drugs, trying small amounts first, not using alone, and having multiple Naloxone kits on hand. If you must use drugs alone, you can call the National Overdose Response Service’s confidential overdose prevention hotline 24 hours a day at 1-888-688-6677. Anyone who suspects or witnesses a drug poisoning should call 911 immediately.