B.C. physicians' group calls on province to create space in hospitals for overdose prevention
An unsanctioned overdose prevention site has been set up near the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria, where volunteers with experience in recognizing and responding to drug overdoses will be on hand.
Among those at the site will be B.C.'s former chief coroner, Lisa Lapointe, who has long advocated for more harm reduction for people who use substances.
"We are still losing five or six people every single day of every week of every month. Anything we can do to address the harms, to reduce the deaths, I am wholeheartedly in support of, and that includes this pop-up overdose prevention site," LaPointe told CBC's On The Island host Gregor Craigie.
"If [our team] saves one life today, that would be absolutely fantastic."
In November, the group tried to set up overdose prevention sites at hospitals in Victoria and Nanaimo but were met by security and forced to move their sites off the properties.
Data from the B.C. Coroners Service shows 2,253 people were killed by unregulated drugs in 2024.
Since a public health emergency was declared in 2016 in relation to increasing drug-related deaths, more than 16,000 British Columbians have been killed by toxic drugs.
Dr. Ryan Herriot, founder of Doctors for Safer Drug Policy and a local family and addictions physician, said overdose prevention sites reduce drug debris such as needles and pipes and improve workplace safety for nurses.
"These services are absolutely necessary," he said.
LaPointe said people who use substances need to be hospitalized for reasons unrelated to their substance use, and it's important for them to have access to those substances so they don't leave the hospital and end treatment. That's where overdose prevention sites on hospital property come in, she said.
"We've seen what happens to people who don't finish a course of treatment," she said. "Those are some of the people that we see ill on our streets. We want people to feel safe to remain in hospital.
"It is safe. It will save lives."
Province developing 'minimum service standards'
According to a news release from the province in October, more than 50 overdose prevention sites are located throughout B.C.
In the statement, the province said it would be "improving access to overdose prevention services that offer observed inhalation services in communities hardest hit by the drug-poisoning crisis."
During a media scrum on Tuesday, Health Minister Josie Osborne said the province wants people who use drugs to be safe but also wants to consider the safety of those working in hospital settings.
She said the province is developing "minimum service standards" for overdose prevention sites.
"I think everybody wants to do the right thing here," Osborne said.
B.C.'s auditor general released a report one year ago detailing the deficiencies in the province's overdose prevention programs. The audit found the ministries' guidance didn't include minimum service standards that ensured consistent quality and access to services.
But Herriot says service standards are being met.
"The Minister of Health, Josie Osborne, continues to insist in her public comments that the work has been held up due to the need for 'minimum service standards,' as if the work previously done by Island Health was not done to a high standard, a notion that we reject," he said.
"A similar site has been operating highly effectively at a Vancouver hospital since 2018, and that when one is dealing with a public health emergency, there is an urgent need to act that transcends usual bureaucratic processes."
CBC News has also reached out to Island Health for comment but has not received a response.
Herriot said his group will continue to push for life-saving services.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
10 hours ago
- CBC
Residents urged to practice water safety as Mounties say most B.C. drownings are preventable
Accidental drownings claim dozens of lives every year in British Columbia and experts say most are preventable. CBC's Michelle Gomez caught up with Mounties from the Fraser Valley who offered tips to ensure a safe day on the water.
CBC
a day ago
- CBC
What is swimmer's itch? And how can you treat it?
For many, it's not summer until you've taken a dip in one of B.C.'s glistening lakes, a welcome reprieve from those hot July days. But sometimes, you end up with something not so welcome: itchy red bumps on your skin. Some call it swimmer's itch, some call it duck itch, and for others, it's simply the itch. But what is it, exactly? University of Northern British Columbia zoologist Dezene Huber said that itch — whatever you call it — is caused by a parasitic flatworm. "It's really quite tiny," he told CBC's Daybreak North guest host Bill Fee. "You're not able to really see it very well with your naked eye." That worm begins as an egg in the water, Huber said, and when it hatches, the little larvae swim using little hairs on the sides of their bodies in search of a snail. Once they get into the snail, they reproduce asexually in "vast numbers." From there, the new larvae leave the snail, in search of something larger — any sort of water bird, but usually a duck, Huber said. Once they find a duck, they burrow into the bird's feet and get into its circulatory system en route to its gut. That's where they lay the eggs that are then returned to the water when the duck poops. You may notice humans aren't involved in that life cycle at all. But humans, like ducks, are warm in the water, so sometimes, those little parasites mistake people for ducks. "They're really well adapted to survive in a duck, but they're not well adapted to survive in a human, so as soon as they burrow into the skin of a human, they die just underneath the skin of the human and that causes an allergic reaction," Huber said. "It's basically parasites making mistakes in a fairly complex life cycle." Those itchy red bumps you get are an immune response as your body rejects a parasite trying to get inside you, Huber said. Treatment While these parasites aren't causing long-term harm to humans, that itch can be pretty uncomfortable. According to the province, scratching those bumps can lead to pain and even infection. Fort St. James, B.C., pharmacist Ankur Pipaliya said the best tip for avoiding the itch is to avoid swimming in areas known to be a problem for swimmer's itch.. But, if you do, he said, towel dry or shower immediately after you get out of the water. Showers should be with cold water, Pipaliya said. And then, he said, apply moisturizer. "Dry skin, it promotes that allergic reaction. So if your skin is moist, it kind of helps you from having any irritations." If it's too late and you've already got red, itchy bumps from swimming in the lake, Pipaliya said he usually suggests mild corticosteroid creams to reduce discomfort, along with cold showers and cold compresses on the bumps. He said Epsom salts and baking soda also help, as well as over-the-counter allergy medications like Benadryl. The province also suggests calamine lotion and colloidal oatmeal baths for relief from swimmer's itch. It said symptoms can develop within 12 hours after infection, and can last anywhere from two days to two weeks.
Global News
3 days ago
- Global News
Nearly 30K people gave up on waiting and walked out of Island Health ERs last year
Patients in British Columbia's Island Heatlh region are the most likely to walk away from an emergency room without seeing a doctor. That's one of the takeaways of new data highlighting just how much pressure the province's ERs are facing. According to the provincial numbers, 142,000 people walked away from B.C. hospital ERs before they received treatment. The number was highest in Island Health, where nearly 30,000 people gave up on waiting. The data was obtained by the opposition BC Conservative Party through a freedom of information request. 'We know people are leaving ERs because of long wait times — but we hadn't any idea how many,' said Courtenay-Comox MLA and opposition critic for rural health Brennan Day. 2:11 People leaving ER without care on the rise, stats show 'Certainly, the numbers we got back reflected what British Columbians have been telling us and that's ERs are in crisis here in B.C..' Story continues below advertisement The data shows that B.C. ER walk-aways are up 86 per cent in the last six years. In the Island Health region, the increase is a staggering 160 per cent. Get weekly health news Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday. Sign up for weekly health newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'We need a change in culture, I think, in the health authorities more than anything,' Day said. 'We need to start prioritizing front-line patient delivery versus protecting the system for the sake of protecting the system.' In a statement, Island Health said it has recently launched a website where people can track estimated emergency room wait times. It added that it had recruited almost 1,800 net new employees last year, including more than 800 nurses. The B.C. Nurses' Union questioned those figures. 'I would ask, how many have left? How many vacant lines do you actually have in emergency? What is your percentage of emergency qualified nurses? Because I think there is much more to understand the context of the situation,' union president Adrian Gear said. 'This isn't just an Island Health concern — this is a provincial concern.' Gear said B.C.'s emergency rooms have become a 'pressure cooker' in part because so many people don't have access to primary care in the form of a family doctor or nurse practitioners, and end up relying on ERs when they get sick. Story continues below advertisement Health Minister Josie Osborne was not available for an interview. 'The number of patients leaving the emergency department is a small proportion of the total number of visits,' she said in a statement.
