we’re with paramedics responding to a 911 call it seems like an apparent overdose this is Pembrook Ontario Carrie went in foaming at the mouth and shaking everywhere you look it’s overdoses wake up man you do not know what it’s like to live on the street have no roof over your head I dispatch call 460 do you think First Responders will see him again tonight possibly I wish I could go back I don’t I don’t want to be like this there’s nothing on my belt here that’s going to solve addictions why wouldn’t we try something new because the answer is if we do nothing what’s going to change priority purple it means there’s an immediate threat to life my producer Ryan and I we’ve been covering this fight against fentel in Ottawa we sat down with the people who use it in Belleville we saw how a toxic batch sent that City into a state of emergency and now we’re turning to Pembrook we spent 3 days there over the course of a week it’s a small town trying a new solution and we got rare access to paramedics just trying to keep people alive purple 23 Echo 01 Gulf overdose poisoning can you attach me to that please how many 800 this is our last day in Pembrook this town sees more than double the number of fatal overdoses per capita than the rest of Ontario and we’re inside Lorie Shannon’s paramedic vehicle vehicle responding to calls most of us never see oh my God made this drug oh my [Music] God oh my God and that’s just a withdrawal it’s fenel most overdose calls are last year they got about 900 of these calls he’s going to see his worse than this is just starting that’s Carrie we’ve bumped into her every single day that we’ve been here she’s been in a rough spot but not like this it’s a town of 14,000 people so you can’t help but run into the same people day after day after day and rru county is using that to try a new approach they’re sending out paramedics and social workers finding people where they’re at before things get critical this is day one we meet Carrie she’s just been robbed and she’s looking for help what happened to your ribs Carrie uh they got broken I was in a scuffle we walk down the road people throw change at us uh you crackhead you need some spare change uh you need some food they’ll throw pizza crust people are very ignorant you do not know what it’s like to live on the street have no roof over your head to be able to cover up at night be able to have a bath nobody knows what it’s like at all I’ve been out here for a year 56 years old and I live on the street when Messa first came to the grind I stayed away I didn’t want to get close to them I don’t I don’t trust people but with Lori I see her all the time so I feel really comfortable sharing and telling them the truth of what’s the matter with us us addicts find it hard to trust and with Lori and Joe Basil all of them the Massac crew I trust them all with my life Carrie trusts Lori and her crew with the life of her family too and by the end of the trip we’re going to find out exactly what that trust means it’s the kind of trust that takes hours of leg work and it’s the foundation for rentre County’s new plan it’s called Mesa they set up shop at a service Hub called The Grind I think the the first time I went there I was outside to introduce myself there were maybe eight people outside having a cigarette and I think like six went back inside and Tuesday to talk to me so it it did take some time and they just I think seeing us consistently it was just Fridays Tuesdays and Fridays and now that there’s the team is sort of stood up I guess um we’re there every day that they’re open at at the grind for lunch and we try to have someone on every weekend to cover off uh lunches here so yeah we had to earn some some trust and and uh and and we have to maintain it here’s what that trust gets you out here an open doorway into the world of fentel and homelessness Lor’s starting her day a tent encampments been vandalized a 70-year-old beaten in his sleep he’s got signs of a brain injury doesn’t want to go on camera doesn’t want to go to the hospital either and so Lori and a social worker get him into a motel room to recover for at least a few days Lori was a paramedic in Toronto she spent 15 years there but this it’s different she knows everyone by name like Debbie we run into her at a coffee shop she’s recovering from a stab wound to the face everywhere you look it’s overdoses it’s not an easy drug to get off of it’s got the worst withdrawal symptoms the longest lasting withdrawal symptoms it needs to be there needs to be a serious serious driving force to get someone clean of it it’s like this all day downtown streets rural areas she’s meeting clients everywhere she goes when you hear uh about the fenel crisis what does that what does that look like to you terrible you seen it down here on the street yeah I’ve seen three people die like right in front of me it’s not fun people you knew yeah best friends can I ask you about your situation about your story would you feel comfortable talking to me about that drug addiction um served in military so where do you like where do you sleep at night in the bush how long’s it been like that for uh good eight months eight months yeah how what’s sort of preventing you from finding a place to stay right now or from getting back on your feet uh drug addiction yeah it’s about it right now can I ask what you’re using a fentanyl F we’ve heard a lot of um people overdosing on fennel obviously uh a really dangerous mix right now with the benzos the animal tranquilizer xylazine who knows what’s in it what what are your thoughts about what you’re seeing on the street does that scare you at all sure does yeah yep what do you think about every time you use Fel [ __ ] it but what do you say to that as someone who wants to help when someone says you know [ __ ] it they think that maybe no one cares but I think it’s it’s more that they think that they’re not worth being cared about you’re trying to establish the fact that that you’re going to be there the next day and you’re going to miss them if they’re not there yeah if if you show up and they’re not there yes yes absolutely I can’t imagine what it it must feel like to know that or believe that nobody is on your side hours upon hours of conversations it’s finding people getting them medication wound care temporary shelter it’s connecting them with social workers and the services that will keep them alive for some it’s just a really slow uh long drawn out suicide process is one way to describe it um and you’ve just accepted that I guess well you know how to you have to like there’s only I can only control what I can do for other people which is try and set people up for success and what they do with that is up to them yeah in between the check-ins the inevitable calls for an overdose in progress uh can you attach me to that call um on 333 Doran please it’s a fentel overdose and it’s a client Lori knows well they find him on the property line in between homes he’s clinging to Consciousness wake up man he’s defecated himself there’s this rush to get him to hospital he’s alive but it’s impossible to know what mix of fenel he’s on the batches they just keep changing these are his um UT cop it’s not for me to take you know we have Narcan that’ll kick the opiate off a receptor and help someone breathe and and get a little bit better but I can’t do anything about a whole lot of ketamine and a whole lot of benzodiazapine and and all the rest of it is he going to be okay I think so I mean I haven’t seen him this sick um but I mean he’s here and he’s safe and provided he stays for some treatment and he’s really not in a position to go anywhere right now I think he’ll be okay it’s like this in countless cities and towns across Canada a losing battle against opioid deaths and it’s not just fentanyl it’s fentanyl mixed with benzo diazines animal tranquilizers xylazine the list keeps growing paramedics and police they keep playing catchup and every time they attend an overdose call they ask themselves two questions one what’s the person on to if they survive where do they take them there is a call in town what is it 30-year-old Land Street we’re on another overdose call a man’s passed out on someone’s front lawn he’s in and out of consciousness his name is Mark so um you were seen I guess down the road Lori knows him by name she doesn’t know where he sleeps though no address on file and he’s incoherent so they do what they can how did you end up solving that um well the officers were gracious enough to to take the client with them um hopefully to Tim Hortons or somewhere where he can maybe grab a coffee or something to drink and you know assuming that he’s not banned from somewhere and and then hopefully he can perk up enough to get to wherever it is he might be staying for the night I don’t um I do recognize him from the grind and know him from there um I don’t know him to to be staying in one of the tents um otherwise I would have taken him somewhere where he could be looked after or get some sleep or something but and there there’s no address on his file uh we figured that out so they’re they’re going to take him somewhere where hopefully he can perk up a little bit and ideally he does so and doesn’t sort of wander off and and find we find ourselves in the same situation again so yeah well without a place to take him to there’s nowhere there’s there’s no there’s nowhere to take him it’s time and it’s resources she’s got a list of people that she still needs to check up on new drugs new problems like lesions infections and the longer they go on the higher the cost homelessness isn’t always Rock Bottom you can go farther uh as we’ve seen and you can set someone up for success but a person as I said has to want to keep their legs and they’re there’s a cost to that as well so if if we can’t I can’t make someone accept care but maybe his Rock Bottom is losing his legs there are real costs to not just the homelessness aspect of it but the illness that that can go with it if you were to temporarily house to stabilize I’m sure that’s a cost but just like a one day cost for someone who who needs that kind of I don’t know what that is a lot I imagine here’s how some researchers see the numbers a hospital Ward costs $332,500 a month jail half as much a shelter costs $7,500 a month but if you can get someone in Supportive Housing the monthly price tag drops to $3,500 and so Lori tries to meet people at the grind it’s a coffee shop and a helping Center and it’s where the Mesa teams connect with dozens of people facing addictions and homelessness we’re feeding about 70 people a day um I’ll just take you on the other side we know our clients we know the people that are that are in need and with that builds trust and we’re getting more people to the agencies where where they can get help and I think breaking that barrier down especially with um that relationship is where you know we’re seeing success these are people like you or I and just a few decisions LED this way and that’s what mace is about is getting the county in on it getting the paramedic service in on it you’ve got us you’ve got the hospital like there’s so many partners in this Mesa project it’s a One-Stop shop for help this is where we run into car again it’s been days since we first met her she’s had a chance for her ribs to heal and she’s feeling good last time we we talked to you uh Lori had checked you out and sort of given you a sense of what might be wrong with your with your ribs there does that kind of interaction is that way LED you to the hospital yeah would you have gone otherwise would I have gone otherwise no no but her life is about to get a lot worse the challenge at the grind demand keeps piling up it’s overwhelming you feeling today after after yesterday how how does today feel [Music] busy Lori chocks it up to Growing Pains because Mesa is brand new long term all of Renfrew County’s agencies are going to have a role to play in this solution may in a nutshell it’s this if you can get police paramedics all the service agencies to build relationships with the people at the heart of this opioid crisis then maybe you can find out where they are what they’re on and what services each of them actually needs to get back on their feet and if you can do that maybe you can prevent them from dying from the next overdose but that kind of work takes a lot of time it takes a lot of hard work and it takes a lot of empathy and the kind of person who believes that change is actually possible put very simply and without getting into it I haven’t had a drink in jesi of 6 years and I don’t I don’t consider myself all that different from the clients that we’re trying to serve um and I consider myself very fortunate and that’s part of my motivation for participating in this program understanding what I do about it I I can see how people end up where they they are sounds to me like you’re taking some soless in the fact that you think what you’re doing here is actually making a difference [Music] yeah it’s a lot but she’s not alone half a dozen paramedic teams are already paired up with social workers and now op are on board too it has to be a community response when I talked about there’s nothing on my belt here that’s going to solve addictions there’s nothing that’s going to solve homelessness but do we have a part to play as far as supporting members that’s our mobile crisis response team that’s those officers now partnered up with RW County paramedics doing that Outreach getting these people connected to the right Services hopefully will it happen the first time maybe maybe not will it happen the fifth 10th time maybe all it takes is one time where they say you know what yes I need help I want to accept this and I want to start getting better why wouldn’t we try something new because the answer is if we do nothing what’s going to change the answer is nothing it’ll just it’ll just the cycle will continue so at least with the Mesa program which I’m a Believer in uh I think that will be a serious step in the right direction as far as how we can support individuals uh to get them help get them treatment give them a roof over their heads uh I believed in that message everyone we spoke to agrees it’s not just policing or housing or support that’s going to solve this first you got to address the addiction but kicking Fel that comes at a cost we keep hearing from people who tried nobody wakes up in the morning says you know what I want to lose everything I love and and all everything I I own and every what I know and you know we don’t choose this like it’s almost like it chooses us in a sense what is it about withdrawal that is that people don’t understand that makes you want to take the drug again to avoid tell you don’t want don’t want to take it you have to take it why I’ve never been that ill in my life I never want to go through it again in my life and so I’m so petrified to to to quit feel like that again um I CAU already I wish I could I wish I could just go back I wish I could go back I don’t I don’t want to be like this but I I my body will kill me but in that moment of vulnerability Lori sees an opportunity you want them on their worst day you want them on their worst day where they’re so weak um or or just beaten down by their addiction they like I’m done I’ve had enough that’s when you want to get them because that’s the I think personally that’s the greatest chance for success is getting them at that point and that is why she’s spending an entire afternoon searching for a guy named Brandon hi where is he I want to do what I can for his mom she’s asked for my help so I’m going to make a phone call and hopefully find some information maybe we can find him mother explained to me last night he’s getting he’s getting sick he’s getting withdrawal sick there’s one solution for that and he’s is not on the methodone program so we keep looking for Brandon he spent last night at the hospital Lori brought him there and she knows the windows closed was apparently dropped off where we were probably a pretty good chance that he’s on Fentanyl and I really hope he’s not wherever we find him if we do I’m looking for Brandon ah he’s gone Lori keeps following leads tracking his Trail but by Sundown still no sign of Brandon and Lor’s not giving up my word means something to me and and you know I want it to mean some something to the people that we interact with and if I can’t follow through it means nothing they can’t trust us and then she gets the call can you attach me to that it’s priority purple immediate threat to life oh my God and it’s Brandon Brandon I just you to I want to know that you hear me when I say your [Music] name the person she’s been searching for all day will you go with the crew when they come though Brandon is Carrie’s son I heard him trying to call for me I went in and he foaming at the mouth and shaking and oh my God I never you never want to see you kid like that I division in my head all the time now what need just drug oh my God we can go anytime okay yeah yeah we’re good you up the doors uh yeah we’ve been in penr for 3 days now and what we found here was a community at the end of their rope trying a totally different approach developing human connection that approach though it’s taking a toll and for paramedics it means long days sleepless nights and the knowledge that they’re going to have to follow up on the same people day after day after day some of them might be ready to turn a corner others might not but everyone we spoke to said they feel heard they feel seen and when the time does come to seek help they know exactly who they’re going to be turning to [Music]
CBC visited Pembroke, Ont., a place where paramedics respond to over 900 overdose calls a year and the rate of fatal overdoses per capita is twice that of Ontario overall. CBC News went along with paramedics during life or death calls in Renfrew County to see firsthand how the region’s new approach to combatting the rising drug crisis works.
Have you been affected by the opioid crisis in Ontario? We want to hear from you. Tell us your story in an email to [email protected].
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