A Hastings-Quinte Paramedic Service ambulance is shown in this file photo.
A media release issued by the Belleville Police Service shortly after 4:30 p.m. warned members of the public to "exercise caution and avoid unnecessary travel" to the downtown core.Emergency crews in Belleville responded to 13 calls about suspected drug overdoses on the afternoon of Feb. 6, 2024. Emergency services responded to 14 suspected overdoses in downtown Belleville, Ont. Tuesday afternoon, according to police, who described the situation as an "overdose emergency.
Hastings-Quinte Paramedic Services Chief Carl Bowker said his crews received seven calls about people downtown who were unconscious in just a 40-minute period. Five of them were taken to hospital on "high priority" status, he added. A staff sergeant who answered the phone at Belleville police headquarters said the overdoses had occurred within a few blocks, near Bridge Street East, between Pinnacle Street and Church Street.
A media release from the Belleville Police Service warned residents to avoid unnecessary travel downtown on Feb. 6. He said area paramedics had received a few calls about overdoses in recent days, but nothing compared to the volume on Tuesday afternoon. However, in that first week of November paramedics had been called to 90 — one of which was fatal, he said.
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