'Staggeringly high' number of overdoses in Waterloo region last year

The number of suspected opioid-related overdoses are almost doubling year over year in Waterloo region, according to numbers from the area's paramedic services.

Last year, 2017, 767 calls were recordedwith more than 400 of the calls coming from Kitchener and 200 in Cambridge.

In2016, there were 398 overdoses across the region, compared to 189 in 2015. That was the first year paramedics began tracking opioid-related calls.

Robert Crossan,deputy chief with Region of Waterloo Paramedic Services, called the 2017 figure is "staggeringly high".

"When you look at the massive increase from the previous years and almost doubling it, in two years it's incredible.That is about 1.5 per centof our total calls," said Crossan.

He believes Rapid Access Clinics scheduled to set up in the region, along with provincial money for drug users, will turn the tide on the opioid crisis.

• New numbers show 65 suspected opioid overdose deaths so far in 2017
• Police dispense 14 Naloxone doses since May, testing field pouches

Waterloo Regional Police previously reported the number of people who have died of a suspected overdose rose to 65 last year, compared to 38 deaths in 2016 and 22 in 2015.