This may seem surprising, but Powell River trails only the City of Vancouver within the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority in terms of drug overdoses.
Last year, there were 76 overdose-related calls in Powell River and the community, with the help of VCH, has opened the first overdose prevention site on the Sunshine Coast.
Darlana Treloar lost her son Sean to a drug overdose and she believes that if the community would have had an overdose prevention site a couple of years ago, her son may still be here.
“The night that Sean passed away, I could see from his cellphone records that he was at 7-11 and he was phoning around to friends to see if he could go and hang out at their house and probably have a safe place to use,” said Treloar. “He couldn’t get a hold of anybody, so he left 7-11 and he headed towards the Glacier apartments and that is actually where he went used in a bathroom, alone, and we lost him there.”
Medical Health Officer Geoff McKee said these sites have been successful all over BC and a major reason why people die from overdoses, is they take drugs in secret.
“We know that overdose prevention sites are effective elsewhere in the province and represents a logical next step for prevention in the community,” said McKee. “The majority of people who die from overdoses hide their drug use and, unfortunately, they die alone.”
Treloar said these sites are vital community supports.
“These sites are there to help prevent people from dying, they are going there to use in a safe environment and when they get there they will be offered supports, so they will be talked to about help that they might want, I think it’s a really good thing and it’s going to help our community.”
McKee said when the facility isn’t being used as an overdose prevention site, it may meet other needs for those at-risk populations in the community.
“The building, outside of hours, may also be utilized by other services, including some of our harm reduction services [like] other mental health outreach teams.”
The overdose prevention site is located on a lot on Joyce Avenue near Duncan Street and is open Saturday and Sunday from 3 until 8 pm.
