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Vancouver police said five men were taken to the hospital on Sunday after overdosing.
The men were all passed out on a bench in the 1800 block of Beach Avenue at English Bay, police said, and when officers arrived around 10:30 a.m. they all either had shallow breathing or were not breathing at all.
Police administered naloxone to all five men while waiting for B.C. Ambulance and Vancouver Fire Rescue Services crews to arrive.
The men are believed to be in their 20s and police said they had been on the bench for several hours but passersby thought they had been drinking and passed out so no one had called 911.
A concerned citizen eventually flagged down an officer.
4:34 One million naloxone kits have been distributed in B.C. One million naloxone kits have been distributed in B.C – Jun 12, 2021
Temperatures in Vancouver reached 31.1 C Sunday.
Vancouver police did not have an update on the men’s condition Monday as the issue is not criminal in nature.
Global News has reached out to the B.C. Ambulance Service for further information.
CabbagedDaughter on June 29th, 2021 at 15:58 UTC »
No deaths announced yet, just to clarify since everyone here is assuming that.
genericgreg on June 29th, 2021 at 15:56 UTC »
So I live in that neighborhood and someone actually posted a photo of them passed out on the park bench earlier in the day an FB group before someone discovered something was wrong. They all looked early 20's and were well dressed and groomed. They were all cuddled up together on a single bench. Everyone in the group (including me) assumed they'd spent the night partying on the beach and had passed out waiting for the first SkyTrain home. The idea that all 5 were simultaneously overdosing never crossed anyone's minds because they didn't 'look' like those types of kids.
What this report is also missing is that a few people DID check on them, including the police. They were all breathing and a coupe were even snoring. I'm guessing that they must have deteriorated quickly once the sun was properly up.
Likely_not_Eric on June 29th, 2021 at 15:12 UTC »
That's awful; I wonder if the heat had an effect on metabolism. A thing I hadn't considered is the unusual effects on the drug-using population.