{"id":724971,"date":"2026-06-09T10:48:37","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T10:48:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/724971\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T10:48:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T10:48:37","slug":"opioid-calls-surpassing-alcohol-related-calls-winnipeg-fire-paramedic-service-winnipeg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/724971\/","title":{"rendered":"Opioid calls surpassing alcohol-related calls: Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service – Winnipeg"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recent data from the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service shows opioid-related call volumes are now surpassing alcohol-related calls for the first time.<\/p>\n

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The data shows that in 2024, there were 4,228 calls for alcohol and 3,091 for opioids. That trend was similar last year, which saw 4,684 calls for alcohol and 3,270 calls for opioids.<\/p>\n

But the tables have turned in the first five months of this year. As of May 31, 2026, there were 1,989 calls for alcohol and 2,435 calls for opioids. It also notes that the data doesn\u2019t account for calls where the chief complaint was listed as something like shortness of breath or unconsciousness, but substances were involved.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just not sustainable,\u201d Tom Wallace, the deputy chief of support services and 911 communications with the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service, told Global News.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe have crew members who are running to multiple calls throughout a shift, sometimes for the same individual.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The data also shows that in all of 2025, WFPS members administered naloxone (Narcan) 4,900 times. So far this year, it\u2019s already been administered 3,458 times.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoing the same type of call over and over and over again, and seemingly not making a difference in the overall system\u2026. Our team has told us that that is quite frustrating for them,\u201d Wallace said.<\/p>\n

Manitoba Government and General Employees\u2019 Union president Kyle Ross says the situation is leading to paramedic burnout.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hearing frustration, when you have 107 vacancies in the workforce and the stress it\u2019s putting on the workers \u2026 It\u2019s impactful on the worker,\u201d Ross said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou show up to a call, it\u2019s life and death. It\u2019s an opioid overdose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joseph Fourre, the founder of the Singing Red Bear Foundation, says hearing of the rising opioid numbers is disheartening.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel terrible for the paramedics because we\u2019re putting it on them to fill that void in keeping people alive,\u201d Fourre said.<\/p>\n

Fourre says there needs to be a different approach to how the drug crisis is being handled. He says treatment options need to be more accessible to those who need them most, adding he would like to see mobile rapid access to addictions medicine (RAAM) clinics and more accessibility to opioid replacement therapy.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAt the present time, people aren\u2019t leaving the downtown area to go to a RAAM clinic,\u201d Fourre said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, it\u2019s the first step towards recovery. If I can get suboxone on a daily basis and I don\u2019t have to go running and waiting in line for hours for it, maybe I will start thinking about recovery and choosing differently on doing drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Recent data from the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service shows opioid-related call volumes are now surpassing alcohol-related calls for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":724972,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,14120,22073],"class_list":["post-724971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-opioids","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=724971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724971\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/724972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=724971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=724971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=724971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}