Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) in partnership with the Powell River Community Action Team (CAT), is opening a overdose prevention service in Powell River, where the fatal overdose rates are the second highest in the VCH region.
The Powell River Overdose Prevention Site (OPS) will open in June in a temporary structure in a lot on Joyce Avenue near Duncan Street.
In 2018, BC Emergency Health Services reported 76 calls for overdose in Powell River. There have been 26 calls for overdose so far this year, as of May 26.
Those numbers do not capture all opioid overdoses in the community and may also include cases of alcohol intoxication and poisoning ingestions.
Darlana Treloar’s son, Sean, died from an overdose three years ago just a few blocks away from where the overdose prevention site will be located. He was 27.
Darlana talks about the night her son died: “I know from my son’s cell phone records that he was looking for a safe place to use that night. And nobody was home, or they were busy. So he went and used in a bathroom alone, so that’s where his life ended. This service will save lives.”
“This overdose prevention service is so badly needed,” says Shannan Ollson, Powell River Community Action Team and SUSTAIN peer network member. “There are overdoses in the laundromat, at Larry Gouthro Park, in the bathroom at convenience stores. This new site will give people a safe place to be monitored so they can get the help they need.”
VCH will provide clinical support and harm reduction supplies, while PREP Community Programs (PREP), a local not-for-profit agency, will manage the site day to day. PREP staff and local peers, who have been trained in overdose prevention and harm reduction, will monitor clients and connect them to life-saving services like detox, addictions counselling and other medical treatment.
The City of Powell River is leasing the land to the proponents for free for one year. The service is being funded by VCH as well as Powell River’s Community Action Team (CAT) which includes members from 67 local organizations including municipal government, Tla’amin Nation, first responders, frontline community agencies, experts, residents and families with lived experience.
VCH has six other overdose prevention sites, all in Vancouver.
Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) in partnership with the Powell River Community Action Team (CAT), is planning to open an overdose prevention service in Powell River, where the fatal overdose rates are the second highest in the VCH region.
The Powell River Overdose Prevention Site (OPS) will open in June in a temporary structure in a lot on Joyce Avenue near Duncan Street.
In 2018, BC Emergency Health Services reported 76 calls for overdose in Powell River. There have been 26 calls for overdose so far this year, as of May 26.
Those numbers do not capture all opioid overdoses in the community and may also include cases of alcohol intoxication and poisoning ingestions.
Darlana Treloar’s son, Sean, died from an overdose three years ago just a few blocks away from where the overdose prevention site will be located. He was 27.
Darlana talks about the night her son died: “I know from my son’s cell phone records that he was looking for a safe place to use that night. And nobody was home, or they were busy. So he went and used in a bathroom alone, so that’s where his life ended. This service will save lives.”
“This overdose prevention service is so badly needed,” says Shannan Ollson, Powell River Community Action Team and SUSTAIN peer network member. “There are overdoses in the laundromat, at Larry Gouthro Park, in the bathroom at convenience stores. This new site will give people a safe place to be monitored so they can get the help they need.”
VCH will provide clinical support and harm reduction supplies, while PREP Community Programs (PREP), a local not-for-profit agency, will manage the site day to day. PREP staff and local peers, who have been trained in overdose prevention and harm reduction, will monitor clients and connect them to life-saving services like detox, addictions counselling and other medical treatment.
The City of Powell River is leasing the land to the proponents for free for one year. The service is being funded by VCH as well as Powell River’s Community Action Team (CAT) which includes members from 67 local organizations including municipal government, Tla’amin Nation, first responders, frontline community agencies, experts, residents and families with lived experience.
VCH has six other overdose prevention sites, all in Vancouver.
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