“Change doesn’t come from silence”
Those are the words from Prairie Harm Reduction (PHR), as they desperately search for help dealing with Saskatoon’s overdose crisis.
On Tuesday, the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre (PEOC) said there have been nine suspected overdose deaths.
According to PHR and the Saskatchewan’s coroners service, there have been 49 suspected overdose deaths from January to Feb. 28 in the province. March’s numbers in Saskatoon thus far would bring the total to 58 on the year.
The deaths come at a time when Saskatoon Fire say they have responded to 435 overdose incidents this month.
Saskatchewan’s largest city has been hit by a drug overdose crisis the last four weeks, with officials saying it in part comes from a “bad batch.”
Last week, PHR announced their closure until March 31 due to workers’ trauma.
“People are dying, and the government’s response remains inadequate,” Kayla DeMong, PHR’s executive director said.
“Harm reduction services, safe consumption sites, drug testing, and a regulated supply save lives. Yet, despite the mounting death toll, Saskatchewan continues to underfund and ignore these evidence-based solutions.”
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DeMond said PHR has requested support from the PEOC and have yet to be given a response.
“The most vital support requested is relief staff to support our teams on the front lines,” she said.
“We are tired of watching our community members die while the government drags its feet. How many more lives need to be lost before real change happens?”
Deputy health minister James Turner, however, said they have reached out to Prairie Harm.
“We are actually reviewing the request from Prairie Harm Reduction in terms of what it would take to re-initiate the services that we already fund with them,” Turner said.
The PEOC is meant to enhance the coordination between government ministries and organizations that respond to overdoses.
The PEOC said so far they are providing support to municipal and emergency staff, advertising a drug alert system, distributing naloxone kits, increasing resources to fire, and adding overdose outreach teams.
“We’re in a response phase right now. Once we can stabilize this and get ourselves out the other end, then we can look at the recovery,” PEOC president Marlo Pritchard said Tuesday.
Saskatchewan has changed its approach to dealing with addictions by focusing more on treatment. The province is planning to add 500 detox beds, with 221 of them already in operation.
Last year, the provincial government banned health providers from giving out pipes for smoking drugs. Staff are also required to only give out the same number of needles they receive. Previously, many providers gave out more than what they collected.
Harm reduction workers panned the move by saying it would exacerbate overdoses and the transmission of viruses.
DeMong said treatment is part of the solution, but more supports are needed.
“We don’t have the resources like we used to, ensuring housing is available and community supports are in place,” she said.
“A solution to a lot of what we’re seeing is housing, is access to mental health care and access to health care.”
The Saskatoon Public Library has also closed two locations for the next month as drug use and safety concerns continued to rise.
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