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Date/Time/Approximate Location |
September 16th, 2021 Windsor & Essex County |
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Event Description |
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit’s surveillance and monitoring system has identified an increase in opioid-related Emergency Department (ED) visits and Emergency Medical Service (EMS) calls inclusively between September 8th and September 14th of 2021. Over this consecutive seven-day period, it has been identified that there were 10 opioid overdoses combined at Erie Shores Healthcare and Windsor Regional Hospital. Nine (9) of these overdoses involved fentanyl and one (1) involved heroin. During this same time period, there were also two (2) non-overdose opioid-related ED visits flagged by the system, both of which involved fentanyl. Additionally, between September 12th and September 14th, a total of 8 EMS Overdose Notification were received. Historically, this is higher than what we had observed during our two and five year averages for Week 37 of the calendar year, with these indicators exceeding our expected thresholds for an alert. Partners involved in the WECOSS, including the WECHU, Windsor Regional Hospital, Essex Windsor-EMS, Erie Shores Healthcare, and Police Services, continue to monitor this increase and are working to understand more about these reported cases. |
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Response |
Please share this information with clients and relevant partners. If you are aware of any linkages between these cases or other causes for these increases, please contact the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit. For signs and symptoms of opioid overdose and what to do, visit the WECOSS website: How Can Overdose Be Prevented? |
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Source |
WECHU (Acute Care Enhanced Surveillance Application - ACES), Essex-Windsor EMS Overdose Notification System, Windsor Police Services |
Windsor-Essex County