It’s common knowledge that smoking isn’t allowed in hospitals.
On Friday evening, though, an individual at Kelowna General Hospital caused a concerning incident for smoking what Interior Health called an unknown substance.
According to the health authority, six staff members and two patients on the 4A medical unit were exposed to smoke and fumes from the unknown substance around 8:15 p.m.
Interior Health says it’s investigating the incident, but did not say if the unknown substance was an illegal drug, such as meth.
Under B.C.’s decriminalization trial, methamphetamine is still considered an illegal drug, but “adults (18 years and older) in B.C. are not arrested or charged for possessing small amounts of certain illegal drugs for personal use,” according to the province’s website. Regardless of the exemption, consuming drugs in public places is prohibited.
It’s unknown if the individual was a patient or not, or if that person was attempting to make some sort of illicit drug inside the hospital.
However, Interior Health did say that police were called and that the six employees and two patients received follow-up care.
“This is a concerning incident and our priority is the health of all those impacted individuals and determining what took place,” said Megan Helgason, a director of clinical operations at KGH.
Global News has reached out to the RCMP for more information.
In an update on Sunday, RCMP told Global News the patient using the unknown substance left the hospital before attending officers arrived.
“If the investigation goes into criminality, they would have to have it confirmed by the lab, what drug it was,” said Const. Mike Della-Paolera.
Police said they’re still investigating and will release details when they can.