Surrey B.C. braces for a spike in drug overdoses

Frontline workers in Surrey B.C. are bracing for a potential spike in drug overdoses.

The city saw a rash of incidents over the pastten days, with 43 people overdosing on the July 15th weekend, and at least 15 more this week.

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• Fraser Health issues warning after 20 overdoses in 24 hours
• Overdose deaths and income assistance: BCCDC report summary

None of the incidents werefatal, but frontline workers likeShayne Williams, executive director of the Surrey Lookout Society, are on high alert.

"We're a little worried around the income assistance day cheque daywhich is this Wednesday, because the B.C. Centre for Disease Control has done studies which say 40 per cent more deaths happen on cheque day from overdoses," he said.

"Everybody's expecting that there's going to be a rash in overdoses, probably starting on Tuesday night, possibly going right into the weekend."

His organization will be bringing in extra staff, as well as relying on nurses from Fraser Health and the BCCDC.

Williams saiddespite more staffhis resources are stretched.

"It's a daunting task, especially for a community non-profit organization that doesn't have the health specialty," he said.

"We're a housing organization that's faced with this real health crisis among people who we can't get housed in Surrey."

Safe injection site a solution?

One of the proposals to fight the wave of overdoses in Surrey is to open the city's first safe injection site.

• Will Surrey allow supervised sites to fight the overdose crisis?

Yesterday, Fraser Health met with the Surrey City Council to discuss possible solutions including a safe injection site.

Council says they also want to hear from local businesses, fire, police, and outreach workers first.

Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner has expressed doubt over creating a safe injection site.

"I have no data around how those injection sites have really moved people off narcotics and into a safer lifestyle," she said in an earlier interview with CBC.

Williams believes there's a lot of science to prove harm reduction can help.

"I think that there is plenty of research out there," he said.

"it's certainly a best case scenario if it would lead folks to an abstinence-based lifestyle, but that's definitely not the reality."

"It's very much about keeping people alive and giving them a spot to use outside of the community, or indoors so it's not in the community's purview."