Another inmate treated for suspected overdose at Barton jail

Another inmate from the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre was treated in hospital for a suspected overdose Wednesday afternoon, marking the seventh similar incident in less than a week.

Hamilton EMS Superintendent Dave Thompson says paramedics responded to the Barton St. jail around noon for a woman in her thirties suffering from an apparent opioid overdose.

She was taken to hospital in stable condition.

This is the latest incident in a recent spike of overdose-related calls at the jail.

Emergency crews attended the detention centre on three separate occasions in the past seven days.

Last Thursday, three women received medical treatment for suspected overdoses. Two of the women were taken to hospital via ambulance and the other by a corrections staff member. Hamilton police say the inmates were all sharing a cell.

On Monday, crews were called to the jail for two separate incidents. Around 7 p.m., two women in their twenties were treated and just an hour later, a man in his forties was rushed to hospital in medical distress.

Hamilton paramedics say in the first week of May, they responded to more than 20 overdoses in the city, which puts 2019 at more than 300 overdoses since the start of the year.

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