A little girl needed medical attention after getting pricked by a discarded needle during a school outing in Victoria’s Beacon Hill Park on Friday.
According to South Park Elementary principal Sean McCartney, the class was in the park, which is located right across the street from the school, when a “student crouched down… put her hand on the ground and unfortunately it landed right on a discarded hypodermic needle.”
The girl has been placed on a treatment protocol and is doing fine.
A letter was sent home to parents and a city crew was sent to clean up the park.
Students were told to be careful and park users are being reminded to call the city for safe disposal if they find a needle.
If pricked by a needle that has been discarded for some time, the risk is often minimal, according to Island Health medical health officer Dr. Dee Hoyano.
“Our main concern with that is testing people for hepatitis C and hepatitis B,” she said. “The risk for HIV is very, very low in that kind of situation.”
— With files from Neetu Garcha