Kayla DeMong fought tears as she described the dire conditions on the front lines, pleading for more help from the province as staff at the harm reduction site she leads try to keep up with the recent spike in overdoses.
“My staff here cannot do this anymore. This week they’ve reversed 23 overdoses just here,” DeMong, executive director of Prairie Harm Reduction (PHR), said on Thursday.
DeMong’s comments come in wake of 67 overdoses and one suspicious death reported by the Saskatoon Fire Department from March 9 to March 11.
On Wednesday, the government activated the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre (PEOC) — something it said will help support and co-ordinate the province and organizations on the ground like PHR.
The day that announcement was made, DeMong said PHR staff were mitigating overdoses by rotating oxygen and tracking vital signs for about 30 people. She said they’ve been doing so for weeks.
She said an on-staff paramedic essentially does CPR for their entire seven-hour shift.
“It is really wonderful that [the province has] done this [emergency response] and are offering support, but it really should have been here a month ago because we’ve been drowning for a long time,” she said.
DeMong said the PEOC called Thursday morning and asked what she needs at the facility.
She said her two main asks are boots on the ground at PHR and a centralized system to access the overdose-mitigating drug naloxone, but that they also need more oxygen and devices to monitor vitals.
“We need to know that there is a number to call and resources to support,” DeMong said.
The staff at PHR know many of the people who access their services personally, which DeMong said adds extra stress.
“Having to revive them is incredibly traumatizing for the staff,” she said. “It’s like if you had to revive your sister or your brother. That’s what they’re going through here and we need help. They can’t take that anymore.”
Premier on budget priorities
Premier Scott Moe spoke on Thursday about spending on safety the public will see in the upcoming budget, set to be tabled on March 19.
“We are going to be making every investment and taking every opportunity to ensure that the communities where we live are safe,” Moe said.
The premier highlighted access to recovery, urgent care and complex needs shelters, and also increasing the consequences for people bringing drugs into communities.
“We need to get that poison out of [users’] hands, and we need to get the drug dealers off our streets, and so enforcement very much is part of our focus and ensuring that our communities are safe moving forward,” Moe said.
Moe also spoke to what the PEOC will do, saying it would help support organizations that need various resources.
“There are occasions where situations exceed the coping capacities of the local authority or where the local authority requires additional support,” said an email from the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA).
“The PEOC can elevate its operations when emergencies begin to escalate beyond the capacity of a local jurisdiction, or the emergency extends to a number of jurisdictions.”
The SPSA said the purpose of the PEOC is to provide a forum for information sharing, discussion and decision-making.
