Date: Friday, June 25, 2021

File: 21-25116

Victoria, BC – Officers are crediting an overdose victim’s friend’s calls for help with helping save the person’s life early this morning.

Just before 3:30 a.m. this morning, Patrol officers were in the 1500-block of Hillside Avenue when they heard someone calling for help. They located the person calling for help next to their friend who was in life-threatening condition – unconscious, not breathing and without a pulse. The person who called for help told officers that their friend had recently used drugs and was suffering from an opioid overdose.

The Patrol officers called for B.C. Emergency Health Service Paramedics to respond, administered naloxone, and began CPR. Additional officers arrived to assist in the life-saving efforts. The overdose victim’s pulse returned and they began to breath on their own just as paramedics arrived. They were transported to hospital for additional treatment.

Patrol officers then worked to identify the overdose victim, located a family member, and transported that family member to the hospital.

There were no arrests. No one was searched and no drugs were seized.

Officers are crediting the person who called for help with helping save the overdose victim’s life.

If you use drugs, please carry naloxone and please do not use alone. If you are with someone who is using drugs who suffers an overdose, please do not hesitate to call 911 and/or call out to our officers for help.

Our primary duty is to protect people’s lives. Legislation protects you from possession charges when seeking help during an overdose.

For more information on preventing overdose please visit: https://towardtheheart.com/

 

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