Interior Health takes preventive action after overdoses in Abbotsford, Victoria

The Interior Health Authority temporarily extended hours at its mobile overdose prevention sites in Kamloops and Kelowna over the weekend, after receiving warnings about illicit drugs from Abbotsford Police.

Five people died of drug overdoses within a nine-hour period in Abbotsford on Friday, and six people overdosed in Victoria earlier last week. 

IHA chief medical health officer Dr. Trevor Corneil said this is the first time the health authority has taken proactive action of this kind.

"It's an opportunity for us to try something real on the ground in large part because we were given advanced notice ... and enough time to act," said Corneil.

Corneil said there's typically a bump in overdoses in the Interior a day or two after there is a rash of overdoses in the Lower Mainland.

Mobile units are staffed Tuesday through Sunday between noon and midnight, but last week's warning prompted the health authority to increase services over the weekend. The sites will return to normal hours on Tuesday.

"We are no longer simply reacting, we're actually beginning to proactively engage with the crisis," said Corneil.

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IHA monitoring services

In addition to extending the hours of the mobile sites, the health authority also put out warnings to drug users through social media and directly through health care providers. Emergency departments are also tracking clusters of overdoses to see if there are any patterns.

"We'll only know two or three days from now when we look back at our various surveillance mechanisms whether that's ambulance calls, visits to the emergency department or actual overdoses. We'll be able to see if it made a difference," said Corneil.

"We're not sure what the right amount of services is other than we know we need more services as soon as possible."

Interior Health opened overdose prevention sites in Kamloops and Kelowna in December 2016.