Calgary Fire Department Faces Sharp Rise in Overdose Calls as Drug Supply Changes

The Calgary Fire Department is facing a significant increase in overdose-related emergency calls, adding further pressure to a service already dealing with a growing number of medical emergencies across the city.

New figures from the City of Calgary indicate that the fire department is on track to respond to more than 170 per cent more overdose calls this year than it did last year. The increase is part of a broader rise in medical emergencies that could push the department’s total number of calls close to 100,000 by the end of 2026.

Fire Chief Steve Dongworth said medical emergencies now account for roughly half of all calls received by the department. The growing demand is changing the traditional role of firefighters and creating concerns about whether emergency crews will consistently be available when residents need them.

According to Dongworth, the department has already examined which types of calls genuinely require a fire response in an effort to improve efficiency. However, any capacity created through those changes is quickly being absorbed by increases in other categories, particularly opioid overdoses.

The growing number of overdose responses also has consequences for firefighters themselves.

Emergency crews regularly encounter people experiencing serious medical and personal difficulties, and some calls end with fatalities. Dongworth said the emotional impact of repeatedly responding to these situations has to be considered alongside the operational pressures.

The department has also seen an increase in members taking leave, adding another challenge for a service already attempting to maintain adequate staffing and response coverage.

The growing medical workload is now prompting Calgary officials to seek additional financial assistance.

Dongworth said the department’s future budget requests to the city are expected to increase significantly as the number of medical calls continues to rise. He is also asking the Alberta government to provide greater financial support for the medical response work being carried out by firefighters.

The chief said provincial reimbursement could reduce the need for the fire department to repeatedly approach Calgary city council for additional resources to manage increasing medical demand.

The provincial government, however, says municipalities already receive financial support through Alberta’s Medical First Response Program.

Maddison McKee, press secretary for Hospital and Surgical Health Services, said the province provides approximately $300,000 annually through the program to support municipalities that voluntarily offer additional medical response services.

The province also maintains that municipalities determine how their fire departments are deployed according to local needs, including the extent to which firefighters respond to medical emergencies.

The financial disagreement comes as Calgary faces a changing emergency response environment.

While firefighters continue to respond to fires and other traditional emergencies, medical calls have become a dominant part of their workload. The increasing number of overdose incidents is adding another layer to that demand.

Addictions specialist and University of Calgary and University of Alberta professor Monty Ghosh believes changes in the illicit drug supply may be contributing to the increase.

The substances circulating in Calgary have become more complex, with highly potent forms of fentanyl appearing alongside other substances, including powerful animal tranquilizers. These combinations can make overdose treatment more complicated.

Naloxone remains a critical tool for reversing opioid overdoses, but Ghosh said some people are not responding to the same amounts that may previously have been effective.

That creates additional challenges for people attempting to respond to overdoses before professional emergency crews arrive.

In some situations, community members may successfully begin resuscitation but struggle to stabilize the person or determine whether the individual has recovered sufficiently. As a result, they may call emergency medical services or the fire department for additional assistance.

This may partly explain why firefighters are seeing more overdose-related calls even when members of the public are already attempting to respond.

The changing drug supply also illustrates why Calgary’s overdose crisis cannot be addressed solely through emergency response.

Firefighters and paramedics are often among the first professionals to encounter people experiencing an overdose, but emergency intervention treats the immediate crisis rather than the underlying causes of substance use.

The growing number of calls places pressure on emergency services while also highlighting the need for broader prevention, treatment and harm reduction strategies.

For the Calgary Fire Department, the issue is becoming increasingly difficult to separate from its overall ability to provide emergency coverage.

When firefighters are responding to medical emergencies, individual units are unavailable for other calls until the incident is resolved. In a city with a growing population and increasing emergency demand, that can affect response reliability.

The department therefore faces a difficult balancing act. It must continue providing rapid assistance to people experiencing potentially fatal overdoses while ensuring enough crews remain available for fires, vehicle collisions, rescues and other emergencies.

The situation also raises questions about how emergency medical responsibilities should be divided among municipal and provincial services.

Calgary’s firefighters have increasingly become part of the city’s medical emergency response network. Yet the financial responsibility for that work remains a matter of debate between the city and province.

As overdose calls continue to rise, that discussion is likely to become more urgent.

The immediate concern remains the safety of people experiencing overdoses and the firefighters responding to them. But the longer-term challenge is building an emergency system capable of managing a changing pattern of medical emergencies without compromising response times for other life-threatening incidents.

With the Calgary Fire Department potentially approaching 100,000 calls this year, the growing number of overdose responses represents more than a single category of emergency. It is part of a wider transformation in the demands being placed on the city’s emergency services.

The sharp increase is also a warning that changes in Calgary’s illicit drug supply can have consequences far beyond individual users, reaching emergency workers, municipal budgets and the city’s overall public safety system.

As the number of overdose calls continues to climb, Calgary and Alberta will face increasing pressure to determine how emergency response should be funded, how resources should be allocated and what broader measures can reduce the number of people reaching the point of a life-threatening overdose in the first place.

Courtesy: CBC