Paramedic reflects on overdose response after losing his best friend

A B.C. paramedic says years of responding to overdose calls left him increasingly numb, until the death of his best friend forced him to confront the emotional toll of the toxic drug crisis. In a First Person column, Cam Fenton describes treating an unresponsive man with naloxone in the rain and later learning that his friend Ben had died from an overdose in 2023, despite having naloxone nearby. The loss made him question why some people survive while others do not. Fenton writes that his grief turned into anger and compassion fatigue, a common struggle for first responders. He also reflects on how the opioid crisis has continued in British Columbia despite harm reduction measures such as naloxone and supervised consumption sites, and says he has tried to regain perspective by remembering that every overdose patient matters to someone.