Man discovered lifeless on Path riverbank, police suspect overdose
Police are confirming the sudden demise of a Path man discovered unresponsive on the riverbank final week.
Whereas the reason for demise is but to be confirmed, the Path police suspect the 56-year previous died from a bootleg drug overdose.
This case started within the early night of Friday, July 22, after a Path girl discovered the person face down and unresponsive in a pool of water alongside the financial institution of the Columbia River close to Groutage Avenue.
The girl, and one other particular person, pulled the person from the pool of water and commenced CPR in an try and revive him.
Kootenay Boundary Regional Hearth Rescue and Emergency Well being Companies (ambulance) had been notified and took over medical care of the person after arriving on scene.
As properly, a frontline Path and Better District RCMP officer attended.
Sadly, the 56-year-old Path man couldn’t be revived regardless of a valiant effort.
Path RCMP don’t suspect foul play at the moment; nonetheless, police suspect the person could have been beneath the affect of a illicit drug on the time of the incident.
The matter was referred to the BC Coroners Service.
Sgt. Mike Wicentowich thanks all individuals on the scene for doing every thing attainable to attempt to save the person’s life.
“It was a heroic effort by all,” Wicentowich mentioned.
This 12 months noticed the very best variety of suspected illicit drug toxicity deaths ever recorded within the month of Could, the province’s newest overdose information exhibits.
A report from the B.C. Coroners Service, launched in mid-July, revealed 195 individuals died of suspected overdoses in Could. That averages about 6.3 deaths per day.
Could’s determine marked a 13 per cent improve over the deaths recorded in that month final 12 months. It was additionally 20 per cent greater than April 2022’s rely of 162.
Between January and Could, a minimum of 940 individuals died from poisonous drug overdose, which is a report quantity for the primary 5 months of a calendar 12 months, in keeping with the BC Coroners Service.
Whereas fentanyl stays a big concern, its presence is famous in 83 per cent of those that have died this 12 months, officers are additionally waiting for the presence of benzodiazepines, often called ‘benzos.’ As depressants — medication which decrease mind exercise — this class of psychoactive medication are prescribed to deal with situations equivalent to nervousness, insomnia, and seizures.
One other regarding pattern is the presence of the benzodiazepine analogue etizolam, which has been discovered within the toxicology outcomes of 40 per cent of people that’ve overdosed from illicit medication.
It’s a non-opioid sedative that doesn’t reply to naloxone, which creates “life-saving challenges for first responders” the coroners service experiences.
newsroom@trailtimes.ca
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