2 carfentanil overdoses in Winnipeg, firefighters confirm

A day after police confirmed thatcarfentanil has enteredthe city, the head of Winnipeg's firefightersunionsays they've already treated at least two young people foroverdoses on the deadly drug.

AlexForrest, president of the United Firefighters of Winnipeg, said members told him about the cases following a Thursday announcement from police confirming the drug seized in a raid earlier this month wascarfentanil, anopioid100 times more toxic thanfentanyl.

"Almost immediately we had put this out to our members and we started getting feedback from our members that we've had not one but two calls already withcarfentanil," he said. "They were either told by the individual or told by other people that that's what it was."

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Carfentanil, which looks much like table salt, was originally designed for veterinary purposes to immobilize large animals. One microgram of the drug is smaller than a grain of salt, and a dose as small as 20 micrograms would be fatal to humans.

Forrest said in both cases the individual required multiple doses of overdose-reversing drug Naloxone, confirming fears on the part of police and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority that carfentanil overdoses are harder to beat than ones resulting from other opioids.

Both cases took at least four doses, Forrest said double the amount provided in WRHA kits designed to treat overdoses.

"It took so many shots of Narcan (a brand name of Naloxone)," he said. "It wasn't just the one shot to revive the individual."

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In both cases, the individuals were male and"very young," between the ages of 16 and 25, Forrest said.

"That's what's so scary," he said. "Many of us have children, and it's so easy to be part of this drug culture and thinking that it's a minor drug that a person's taking when in fact there could elements laced in there."

Forrest said carfentanil could be present in other drugs, including marijuana, and users might not even know it's there.

"You just don't know what you're taking when you're taking drugs on the street," he said.

Forrest urged parents to educate their kids on the dangers of carfentanil.

Overdose kits containing two doses of Naloxone are free to users at Street Connections. They're also available for purchase at some pharmacies in Winnipeg.