Dedicated Ottawa paramedic unit aims to help in ByWard Market

There are now paramedics assigned full-time to work in the ByWard Market, as a response to an increasingly toxic drug supply.

Anyone who works in, or visits the ByWard Market has probably seen someone using drugs, and perhaps someone in need of medical attention.

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Advanced Care Paramedic Austin Gionet is both responding to calls, and looking for anyone that needs his help. "Every day, we're encountering people with substance use disorders," he tells CTV News Ottawa.

Each day, Ottawa Paramedics are assigned to work in the ByWard Market amidst a growing overdose crisis.

"Having this initiative has been great to reduce our response times and more effectively get to those patients that need the help that we can provide."

Gionet is one of 13 paramedics doing this, as part of a pilot project.

"Over the last few years, we've noticed a sharp increase in the number of calls in the ByWard Market, a big part because of the opioid crisis and the contaminated drug supply that drive the number of overdoses up quite significantly," says Marc-Antoine Deschamps, Ottawa Paramedic Service Superintendent – Public Information.

The idea behind this project, which began in July, is to save lives and free up ambulances, as not every call requires a trip to the hospital.

"So an advanced care paramedic working alone in a response vehicle allows us to get there quickly and also to adjust the priority of the call," says Deschamps.

Within the first week of the project, only 25 of 65 calls required a trip to the hospital.

"We aim to target those calls and get there ahead of police and also fire, and especially our own resources with our paramedic service, to either downgrade the call or cancel out right after," says Gionet.

For example, if a passerby calls 9-1-1 when seeing someone lying on the ground, it could be an overdose or just someone taking a nap.

"That allows us to redirect our resources to other calls in the community," says Deschamps.

The initiative is also about building relationships and trust with those in the vulnerable community, and offering resources to those in need, say paramedics.

"And they have been reaching out to us. They've been knocking our windows, asking for wound care, asking for water, asking for Narcan kits. So it's a great pleasure being able to have that connection with the community that before we didn't quite have," says Gionet.

"Truthfully, I just enjoy helping people."