By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

One year of medically-supported detox celebrated at Safe Harbour

Nov 2, 2018 | 10:54 AM

It has now been one year since Alberta Health began funding 20 medical detox beds at Red Deer’s Safe Harbour, offering those experiencing addiction one more outlet to get back on the right path.

In that time, there have been more than 1000 admissions, mostly unique, according to Jennifer Cross, who manages the medically-supported detox program.

“People come here when they’re at the end of their rope, and they need to make a change,” Cross says. “This is where they stay to become sober or kind of get back to where they can start again, maybe reconnecting with family, friends, employment, or housing.”

A typical stay is five to eight days.

While it’s difficult to quantify how many lives may have been saved by the presence of these beds, Cross says it’s not so hard to imagine what would be occurring if they weren’t available.

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“People would probably go to the hospital where they’re always short of beds, so that person may try and detox on their own which can be very dangerous, especially from alcohol with seizures,” she says. “Or they’d just give up detoxing and continue using because it’s so uncomfortable and miserable physically and mentally to withdraw on their own.”

When someone admits themselves into the medical detox program, what happens with them depends on where they are with their addiction.

Typically, they have a place to sleep for several days and they are fed well, Cross says. They spend time with staff to just talk or get help applying for treatment, which of course doesn’t exist or is limited in Red Deer. There is also assistance with finding housing through the Outreach Society, and there are many referrals to mental health services offered by the CMHA and AHS.

There are several doctors who rotate through the program on a weekly basis.

Another thing intriguing the folks at Safe Harbour and advocates for harm reduction and treatment is the rise of crystal meth.

“I wouldn’t say its use is more than alcohol, but it might be neck and neck. A lot of people use more than one substance, but yes, more and more people talk about meth as a substance they want to withdraw from,” Cross says. “More people say they use meth than opiates.”

Safe Harbour’s numbers show about half of everyone admitted list meth as a substance they use.

Cross adds that there has also been an increase in people 55 and older experiencing addiction and utilizing the medical detox at Safe Harbour, though it’s hard to put a finger on exactly why that is.

Of the approximately 1000 admissions, the oldest has been 67 and the youngest 18, which is the minimum age to get a bed. Cross says some of these people are successful and find housing or return home, while others unfortunately find it too difficult and decide they’ll come back to detox at another time.

Staff and community members held a small celebration of the medically-supported detox program’s anniversary on Thursday afternoon.