‘We’ve had 15 overdoses in the community as of Friday’

Carfentanil in Hay River is now “a very serious issue” with overdoses straining the town’s resources, councillors were told this week.

In an advisory last month, the NWT’s chief public health officer said carfentanil, a highly toxic synthetic opioid, had been found in powdered cocaine in Hay River.

Carfentanil is considered to be some 10,000 times more potent than morphine and 100 times more potent than fentanyl.

The NWT government said last month’s discovery was the first time carfentanil mixed with powdered cocaine had been found in the territory.

At a meeting on Monday, councillor Brian Willows said Hay River’s healthy communities committee – which he chairs – met last week to discuss the carfentanil situation.

Willows noted the town’s emergency responders had set a monthly record for the number of calls received, the “vast majority” being medical in nature.

A report provided by the protective services staff this week states the team “recorded a staggering total of 87 emergency calls” in October, making it “the busiest month in the department’s history.”

“The majority of these calls were related to medical emergencies, indicating a significant uptick in urgent health issues within the community,” the report stated.

“The situation was particularly alarming as the department responded to 10 drug overdose cases in just eight days, which was directly tied to the alarming discovery of carfentanil in illicit drugs circulating within the area.

“This surge in emergency calls not only demonstrates the department’s unwavering commitment to community safety but also highlights the escalating pressures faced by emergency services in Hay River.”

“We’ve had 15 overdoses in the community as of Friday. I’m not sure how things went over the weekend,” Willows told council colleagues.

“All related to this carfentanil, and those are only the ones that we know about.”

Willows said he had been told by town protective services director Travis Wright that “some of these individuals are requiring 10 doses of naloxone” – medication used to reverse the effect of opioids – “to be brought back to consciousness.”

“Whether it be the part of the community that have addiction issues, whether it’s recreational users, whether it’s the youth, this is a very serious situation,” Willows concluded.

“Hopefully the community can support us by spreading this information around to family and friends.”