Fraser Health takes battle against overdoses to the streets
Fraser Health has recently opened 50 new substance-use recovery beds — including a dozen for pregnant women — and will launch a pair of new posters today in a bid to reach specific users at risk in B.C.’s ongoing overdose crisis.
The new treatment and prevention measures were designed after looking closely at overdose data and finding support gaps, said Victoria Lee, chief medical health officer and vice-president for population health at Fraser Health. Lee said that while data shows men aged 30-49 tend to overdose at greater numbers than other groups, teens, seniors and women can be counted among the hundreds dead so far this year.
“Overdoses do not discriminate,” Lee said.
“The people affected by this are your sister, your brother, children and parents.”
Some of the new recovery beds are for young people. Others are for women, including women who are expecting or who have newborn children. The intention of the new beds is to make sure anyone willing and ready to get treatment can get it.
Meanwhile, the new posters are aimed at making sure substance users who are not seeking treatment know how to use in safer ways. Scare tactics don’t necessarily work with people who use drugs regularly, Lee said, and these posters don’t use them.
“If you use drugs: Have a plan. Go slowly. Use with a buddy. Carry Naloxone,” reads one. Naloxone is an easy-to-use overdose-reversing drug the health authority has distributed to users this year.
“A needle with fentanyl can kill you. A needle with Naloxone can save your life,” reads the other.
Near the bottom of each poster is a line that reads: “Lethal drugs are circulating.”
For health providers, that message cannot be overstated. B.C.’s provincial health officer called a public health emergency this spring when it became clear the province could see as many as 800 overdose deaths by the end of the year. The new emergency powers gave medical health officers fast access to overdose data so they could respond quickly to rising threats.
Chief among the threats is Fentanyl. As of last month, the opiate had been detected in about 60 per cent of this year’s fatal overdoses. It is deadly in small amounts and suppliers are cutting it into cocaine, heroin, amphetamines, ecstasy and other drugs.
The practical advice on Fraser Health’s posters will be familiar to the many regular drug users already tuned into the risk of Fentanyl and contaminated drugs. But it was written so recreational users who may not have heard it before will also get the message.
The posters are destined for bus stops, restaurants and bars, giving insight into the wide range of people Fraser Health staff are trying to reach. Something Fraser Health’s posters do not show are jarring images of overdoses or emergency responders. That is intentional, Lee said.
“With the number of overdoses and overdose responses, a lot of people have seen death and overdoses occur,” she explained.