Emergency overdose sites opening in Kelowna

With drug overdose deaths rising at alarming rates, health authorities around the province are opening overdose prevention sites all around B.C. The Interior Health Authority is opening four sites, two in Kelowna, two in Kamloops.

“Interior Health continues to see dramatic increases in both fatal and non-fatal overdose events, and we need to ensure people are safe right now. These overdose prevention sites can help provide increased clinical support and save lives,” Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Trevor Corneil said. “While Kamloops and Kelowna have the highest number of overdose deaths, we recognize overdoses are on the rise in communities across Interior Health. Therefore, we will continue to closely monitor other hot spots or areas of concern.”

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The Kelowna sites will be located at Living Positive Resource Centre on Asher Road and the recently vacated, former Kelowna Health Centre site on Ellis Street. Staff at all sites will be equipped with naloxone and have the appropriate training for overdose response. The sites are expected to be fully operational by Dec. 16.

“In the wake of a spike in overdose-related 911 calls, and in light of the current cold snap across the province, health authorities are moving quickly to set up overdose prevention sites in communities where a significant number of people have been suffering overdoses,” Health Minister Terry Lake said. “We needed to act quickly with this emergency measure to help save people’s lives, which is our foremost concern as we continue our work to combat the overdose crisis.”

Unlike supervised consumption services, which offer a range of prevention, harm reduction and other health services such as addictions care, the purpose of overdose prevention sites is to increase the likelihood of trained staff intervening with naloxone and breathing support when an overdose occurs, and prevent catastrophic brain injury and death.

Drug overdose deaths continue to rise in B.C.

Despite an emergency call and the approval of naloxone kits, the number of illicit drug deaths in B.C. continues to rise this year at a rate of about two each day,according to the latest statistics released by the BC Coroners Service.
Tracking numbers for the first 10 months of 2016, the number of illicit drug overdoses was 622, compared to 397 for the same period last year. The total number of illicit drug deaths in October was 63, up from 57 in September. These numbers continue to follow a trend seen in a previous report released by the BC Coroners in October that showed there were 555 accidental drug overdose deaths in the province from January through September 2016.

The coroner says fentanyl still remains a major contributor to the high number of deaths. This year, from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, there were a total of 332 cases where fentanyl was found, which translates to about 60 per cent of all illicit drug deaths. That number is almost triple the number of fentanyl-detected deaths for the same time frame last year.

The overdose prevention sites are the province’s latest steps in attempting to address the opioid overdose crisis.

Interior Health says health authorities around B.C. continue their work to apply for permanent supervised consumption services, which will have supervision services integrated and embedded with other health and social services, including mental health and substance use services and referrals and peer support.
The Kamloops and Kelowna overdose prevention sites, as well as sites in Vancouver, Surrey, Victoria, and Prince George, are the provincial government’s latest steps in response to the opioid overdose crisis.
~ with files from Paula Baker