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Temporary overdose prevention site opens in Red Deer

Oct 1, 2018 | 1:40 PM

The doors have opened on Red Deer’s newest tool to help save lives in the midst of the opioid crisis gripping the nation.

Red Deer’s first-ever temporary Overdose Prevention Site (OPS) opened at noon Monday at the Safe Harbour Society (5246 53 Avenue).

The facility is an ATCO trailer outfitted to provide a safe, hygienic space for people to consume previously-obtained drugs. Turning Point staff trained and able to provide immediate life-saving measures will be on-hand to monitor consumption and, when needed, provide emergency assistance.

According to Alberta Health Services, Red Deer has the most fentanyl-related poisoning deaths per capita among municipalities in Alberta, at 44.7 per 100,000 person hours.

Allan Sinclair, Senior Operating Officer for AHS Central Zone, says they’ve been working with Alberta Health, Capital Management, Turning Point, Addictions and Mental Health, Safe Harbour Society and The City of Red Deer for several months to help make this happen until a permanent location for supervised consumption services can be found sometime over the next 12 months.

“The key message is this is a service that will save lives, and we know it will save lives,” states Sinclair. “Having this opportunity here with a temporary service, it’s the best time to get that up and running and have an opportunity for the local provider which is Turning Point, to be able to provide the services because this is a problem that is not going away and we need to take action and take action now.”

Sarah Fleck, Clinical Manager for Turning Point, says this temporary site will have an immediate impact by helping to prevent overdose fatalities in Red Deer.

She says security will be in place when someone walks through their door and begins the process of using the facility.

“They’ll be buzzed-in through a door-bell camera and come in and do an intake with a harm reduction specialist,” Fleck explains. “That intake is just to make sure that they’re eligible to use the service. From there, they’ll be assigned to a booth and once they’re in the booth, they’ll be able to ingest the substances that they have already brought. We don’t provide any substances on site.”

Following that, Fleck says a nurse will work with the individual to provide health education and health promotion.

“They will be able to use their substances in a way that’s safe with clean and sterile supplies. They then leave the supplies that they’ve used in the facility, so there’s no needle debris leaving our facility. After that, they are monitored for either an overdose or any other adverse effects that may happen as a result of substance use, and if they require medical attention, we have nurses on staff that will be able to provide that immediately.” 

Fleck also hopes to clear up some misconceptions people may have about the facility.

“People who are using this service are people who are already using drugs, they are people who are active in their substance use,” explains Fleck. “We are just trying to provide them with a safe place to use where they will not be at-risk of fatally overdosing by themselves.

“Another [misconception] is that it will increase drug debris and drug consumption around the site. But our anticipation based on the results from studies around the world is that will actually decrease around the site as needles used on-site are not allowed to leave the premises.”

Fleck says a staff position has also been created to clean up any needle debris that may be found in the area.

The temporary OPS will start off by operating from 12 p.m. – 8 p.m. seven days a week, then expand to 16 and 24 hours a day over the coming weeks.