Skyrocketing opioid calls take toll on first responders Unions call for reinforcements as report highlights 1,372 per cent jump in incidents from 2016 By: Chris Kitching Posted: 6:27 PM CST Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025

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A soaring number of calls and Winnipeg’s toxic drug crisis are putting a “tremendous” strain on firefighters and paramedics, who are forced to confront violence and suffer psychological injuries as a result, union leaders told the Free Press Thursday.

A new Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service report said opioid-related calls jumped by 1,372 per cent from 2016 to 2023.

“The unpredictable nature of these calls, these types of incidents, takes a psychological toll on our members,” United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg president Nick Kasper said.

Ryan Woiden, president of Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union Local 911, which represents city paramedics, said violence against staff increases when drug-related calls go up.

That translates to an increase in staff going on leave, which leads to more overtime for employees handling calls, he said.

“We end up burning out, and we end up asking the remaining staff to try to shoulder the remaining calls,” Woiden said.

In 2023, the WFPS reported 10,133 cases where a chief complaint involving alcohol, cocaine, crystal meth, marijuana or opioids was documented. Of those, opioids were cited in 3,400 cases and crystal meth in 1,580.

By comparison, 8,178 cases were documented in 2022 (1,870 involving opioids and 1,598 involving crystal meth), and 6,747 in 2016 (231 were opioid-related and 436 involved crystal meth).

The most recent data for 2024 was up to August (6,502 cases overall, with 2,131 related to opioids and 1,056 to crystal meth).

The true number of calls is likely higher because the chief complaint traditionally reflects a patient’s description of events.

“It is not uncommon during points of time during the day where we’ll have anywhere between four and seven calls, or units dedicated to going out and caring for patients in the community that are suffering from overdose or some other effects from either alcohol or illicit drugs,” WFPS Chief Christian Schmidt told reporters.

The impacts on staff are “quite significant,” including situations where a patient’s behaviour is erratic, aggressive or dangerous, Schmidt said.

For the first time, there were months in 2023 where the WFPS responded to more opioid-related calls than those related to alcohol, Schmidt wrote in a report to city council’s community services committee.

Alcohol was cited in 4,595 cases in 2023, down from 5,705 in 2016.

WFPS members, along with staff from the community organization Sunshine House, responded Sunday when 10 people overdosed within a two-hour period near Main Street and Logan Avenue.

Schmidt said the WFPS works closely with outreach groups.

“In light of the challenges we have in the community, these are the types of relationships we need to keep building so we can really care for the most vulnerable people in our community that are suffering from these overdose events,” he said.

Manitoba recorded 323 suspected drug-related deaths from Jan. 1 to July 31, 2024, as per the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner’s most recent preliminary data.

Marion Willis, executive director of St. Boniface Street Links, which conducts street outreach and has a 12-bed transitional home for men experiencing addiction, homelessness or mental health issues, has seen no sign of the toxic drug crisis abating.

“We don’t see a decline in the use of opioids at all,” she said, noting more supports are needed for people who are struggling with addiction and overlapping issues such as poverty, homelessness and mental health.

The Manitoba government, which recently announced a plan to curb homelessness, has pledged to expand toxic drug testing, detox beds and addiction treatment options. It is eyeing Point Douglas for a proposed supervised drug consumption site.

Schmidt said the site will help connect some users to professional help.

“I think that’s going to be a very important step for us to correcting what we have going on here in our city,” he said.

Willis, who expects the site to help in some small way, said it isn’t the answer for every drug user.

The surge in the WFPS drug-related calls coincided with an 87 per cent spike in fires and 23 per cent jump in overall medical calls from 2019 to 2023.

The WFPS is under “extreme stress,” Schmidt wrote in the report.

Kasper said the spike in calls has put “tremendous” strain on staff. A separate city report in November said the number of approved Workers Compensation Board claims by WFPS members climbed to 120 per month in 2024 from about 40 per month in 2016.

Kasper and Woiden both said they would welcome more mental-health supports and additional staff to bolster front lines that are stretched thin.

The WFPS set up a behavioural health unit in 2021. The city’s latest budget includes 24 new firefighters funded by the province. Schmidt said 24 additional paramedics were hired in 2023.

He said a new five-priority dispatch system, which will be rolled out within three months, will make the service more efficient. Some less-urgent calls are being handled by the Downtown Community Safety Partnership.

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Mayor Scott Gillingham said the increased number of calls is concerning, and reflects Winnipeg’s rapid growth and broader social challenges, which are faced by many cities.

“I’ve spoken about the possibility of adding a fourth emergency service dedicated to mental health response, which could help alleviate call volumes for paramedics, firefighters and police,” he said. “I look forward to further discussions with the province and community stakeholders on this option.”

Community services chair Coun. Vivian Santos described the WFPS call data as “very stark.” She said priorities include adding staff and addressing issues related to injury-related leave.

“It’s important we support our membership,” she said.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Chris Kitching
Reporter

Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.

Every piece of reporting Chris produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.