BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) has been monitoring the overdose crisis since it began in 2016 by tracking the number of 9-1-1 calls we receive and respond to for a potential overdose. 

Between 2004 and 2015, overdose calls in B.C. fluctuated from 10,000 - 15,000 a year. But in 2016, BCEHS saw a dramatic increase in overdose call volumes and by 2017 it amounted to more than 23,000 calls a year. 

The experience of BCEHS mirrors other provincial health agencies, including the BC Coroner Service, which reported a spike in illicit drug deaths in 2016, and an increasing trend of illicit drug deaths where fentanyl was detected. 

Christa Zaganas is a paramedic at Ambulance Station 248 in the middle of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Zaganas regularly responds to overdoses. “I can tell you there is no typical overdose patient. This crisis is affecting people from all walks of life.” 

For the last three years the total number of overdose calls paramedics attend has remained steady – but this steady volume of overdose calls (now, more than 24,000 calls a year) is double what it was before the overdose crisis began. 

Overdose calls are tracked across the provincial health authorities and the data reveals very few communities in B.C. are immune from the overdose crisis. Vancouver Coastal Health and Fraser Health have the highest volume of overdose calls – they also serve 50 per cent of B.C.’s population. Here is a breakdown of 2019 overdose calls by health authority: