Take a tour of London's Temporary Overdose Prevention Site - Action News
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London

Take a tour of London's Temporary Overdose Prevention Site

London opened the doors Monday to a Temporary Overdose Prevention Site, a location where people can use drugs safely and seek services for recovery.

The downtown location is the first officially-sanctioned temporary site in Ontario

Kits filled with equipment are laid out for people using injection drugs at London's Temporary Overdose Prevention Site. (Amanda Margison, CBC News)

London opened the doors Monday to the province's first officially-sanctioned temporary site for people to use their drugs safely andseek services for recovery.

The Temporary Overdose Prevention Site or TOPSis located at 186 King St. in the city's downtown core.

The servicehas been years in the making,prompted many public conversations and heated debate, and was fast-tracked as fatal overdoses in the city climbed.

"We don't know how many people will use the site but we do know there are more than 4,000 people registered for London's needle exchange program," said Shaya Dhinsawho took the lead on the Middlesex-London Public Health unit's opioid response team.

Users can bring their drugs to the location and have medical staff supervise the injection.

The Temporary Overdose Prevention Site is in the same location as the needle exchange program where "clients already feel comfortable and know the staff," Dhinsa said.
One of the waiting areas inside the site. Clients need to sign in to use the service. (Amanda Margison, CBC News)

While preventing deadly overdoses is the primary goal, the team hopes to see an uptick in the number of people accessingmedical and mental health services.

"This site allows us to connect people to not only different services that they need but with people that are understanding and caring and can help that person connect and move forward with their life,"said outreach worker Blair Henry.
The first "right" on the code of conduct is to "feel safe, respected and to be treated with dignity." (Amanda Margison, CBC News)

London is still working towarda permanent supervised consumption site, as government approval for this current location was only granted for six months.

The team said there will be lessons to learn from the temporary location that will be put toward the permanent site.
Some members of the team who've worked for more than 3 years to implement a temporary site, including hosting public consultations. (Amanda Margison, CBC News)

The overdose prevention site will be open7 days per week starting Tuesday February 20. Until then, it will run Monday to Friday.

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