‘Fentanyl is getting in everything:’ Lighthouse sees seven overdoses in one night

It was a hectic night at the Lighthouse this past Thursday, as seven individuals overdosed at the facility.

All seven were revived and now are doing well, according to the Lighthouse’s fundraising and communications manager, Anna Pacik.

“When the staff got there, they began administering naloxone to everybody there who appeared to be non-responsive. Eventually, they all revived,” she told 650 CKOM on Wednesday.

Pacik said six overdoses were identified during a shift change in an independent living apartment unit on the Lighthouse campus.

“The six people were upstairs in the apartment. The staff came up with the naloxone kits,” she said before explaining that additional naloxone had to be administered once EMS arrived on the scene.

Pacik said this was the first time Lighthouse staff were notified to come up to such a large group of people, all overdosing in the facility.

At the same time, another individual had to be revived in the Lighthouse’s supportive system Thursday night. It was the quick thinking of another resident who ended up saving that individual from the overdose.

“That person was revived by a resident who had taken the naloxone training,” Pacik said. “It certainly saved this resident’s life.”

Pacik explained the Lighthouse has been offering naloxone training to its residents for over a year now.

She added this stresses the need for a full-time safe consumption site or a place in which people can go and get their drugs tested.

“Right now, it is a really bad situation on the streets,” Pacik said.

“There are definitely some bad street drugs out there. And it’s not just in the injectables, it’s in the other drugs as well. So this drug was not — as far as I’m aware — an injectable. The fentanyl is getting in everything and people really need to be aware of what they’re purchasing, and that’s really hard to do when you’re on the streets.”

Pacik also added the Lighthouse has a staff member who tested positive for COVID-19 who currently is isolating at home. No additional cases have been detected at the facility, but weekly COVID testing is ongoing at the Lighthouse.