Five attendees at Escapade Music Festival in Ottawa, Canada were taken into the hospital with apparent drug overdoses last night.
According to reports, one of those people was in serious condition following their OD, and the other in critical. The Ottawa Paramedic Service (OPH) have linked those two particular medical emergencies to the substance GHB. The relatively common street drug can be fatal.
The other three overdoses were described as “minor” and so those attendees are expected to have a speedy recovery.
Escapade does not condone drug use of any kind on its festival grounds. The staff, however, is specially trained to treat these types of cases and sexual abuse encounters.
OPH spokeswoman Donna Casey commented on their approach at Escapade:
“Our role is to raise awareness about substance use and to promote harm reduction key messages. Using this approach, staff can early on identify individuals who may be at risk by offering non-medical support or referring them to appropriate medical services onsite.”
Top EDM acts like Alesso, Armin van Buuren, Kaskade, Zedd, Rezz and were booked to play Escapade over this weekend… Everyone stay safe out there!
5 ODs At Escapade
Day 1 of #Escapade2018 completed. Great teamwork with the organizers, @CdnSkiPatrol, @ottawahealth to keep overdoses at a minimum. 5 OD taken to hospital, 1 critical and 1 serious, both due to GHB. None are life threatening. Other 3 were minor. Back at it tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/tbbYMKrpng
— Ottawa Paramedic Svc (@OttawaParamedic) June 24, 2018
Going to a party? Taking a pill for a boost? What’s in the pill? Any drug can contain Fentanyl and kill you. Are you trusting a drug dealer with your life? #Escapade2018 pic.twitter.com/CxOoi8Ke7X
— Ottawa Paramedic Svc (@OttawaParamedic) June 21, 2018
Sources: CTV News, Ottawa Citizen | Image via Escapade