Pop-up injection site claims it saved a life after overdose

After less than a week in operation, an unauthorized pop-up supervised injection site in a Lowertown park has averted an overdose, organizers said on the eve of an international event to draw attention to the opioid crisis.

“Tonight Overdose Prevention Ottawa saved a life,” the group said on social media Wednesday night.

“After all the hard work, sleepless nights, endless days, and multiple criticisms from higher ups — we persevered and tonight brought someone deserving back from overdose.”

The group opened the tent site Friday, saying they couldn’t wait for an officially-sanctioned program to open in Sandy Hill this fall.

“Spending energy convincing people in power that this work needs to be done in the very way we are doing it is exhausting us and shouldn’t be necessary,” organizers said Wednesday night. “People are using next door to us. People are dying next door to us. People next door to us are our community and they can’t wait another day for this service.”

The group also said that it’s seeking skilled grief counsellors to support the team, “who have just witnessed their first of many overdoses.”

Local advocates joined their counterparts in over 100 cities to mark International Overdose Awareness Day Thursday with an event at the Human Rights Monument on Elgin Street.

It’s aimed at reducing the stigma, especially for mourning friends and family, and spreading the message that those deaths are preventable, organizers said.

“Efforts to date have not reduced the number of drug overdose deaths in Ottawa and there is an urgent need to scale up proven interventions to prevent needless overdose death and injury,” they said.

“This year’s event focuses on what is working and what more needs to be done.”

Speakers include members of the Drug User Advocacy League, Ottawa Paramedic Service and Ottawa Public Health, drug users and their parents talking about their experiences, and performances by artists.