Saskatoon's only supervised consumption site closing for 11 days to give exhausted staff a break

Liam O'Connor · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 20, 2025 5:14 PM EDT | Last Updated: 6 minutes ago

After a trying clip connected the beforehand enactment of the caller overdose spike, Prairie Harm Reduction is temporarily closing its drop-in and supervised depletion tract successful Saskatoon.

In a societal media station connected Wednesday the non-profit organization said PHR staff need clip to absorption connected themselves and the trauma of dealing with the overdose situation head-on implicit the past fewer months. The tract volition reopen Mar. 31.

"It's not an casual determination knowing that determination is simply a batch of fallout from america not being there, but I deliberation radical hide that the radical connected the beforehand lines that are moving done each of this, you know, we're quality beings, too," DeMong said connected a telephone interrogation with CBC on Thursday.

Saskatoon Fire Department has responded to much than 350 overdoses, including aggregate suspicious deaths, since March 1, according to the Ministry of Health. 

Since Jan. 1, the occurrence section has responded to 696 overdose incidents oregon suspected opioid poisonings.

The overdoses necessitate 4 to 5 doses of naloxone, and sometimes oxygen oregon paramedics to revive the victim.

PHR unit 'drained and broken'

In the societal media station connected the closure, Ashley Greyeyes, the drop-in supervisor astatine PHR, said marginalized radical travel to the harmless depletion tract for care, compassion and a accidental to survive.

"The past 3 weeks person been brutal — unprecedented numbers of overdoses, immoderate fatal. Just precocious we recovered ourselves responding to six overdoses astatine once, a harrowing infinitesimal that near america drained and broken," Greyeyes wrote.

Last week, successful airy of the spike successful overdoses successful Saskatoon, the Saskatchewan authorities activated its Provincial Emergency Operations Centre (PEOC), which it says is meant to streamline communications betwixt authorities and organizations.

DeMong says her unit works tirelessly to revive radical from overdoses, but they don't person the due resources to bash the work, adding she's s made it wide to PEOC that they request boots connected the crushed there.

And portion she appreciates the PEOC asking what's needed, Demong says it's come too late.

"I don't deliberation they're actively knowing that reaching retired astatine this constituent doesn't lick anything — that we needed enactment weeks agone erstwhile we started asking," she said.

Minister: 'Always unfastened to conversations'

At the legislature connected Thursday, Lori Carr, the curate of intelligence wellness and addictions, was asked astir PHR's petition for further people and resources.

 "We're ever unfastened to those conversations," the curate said. "I cognize that the Saskatchewan Health Authority has been talking with them connected however they tin assist, and truthful those conversations volition proceed and [we'll] spot wherever they go."

Carr acknowledged the fig of overdoses successful Saskatoon "is a immense problem," which she said is wherefore the SHA and the City of Saskatoon are moving unneurotic with the PEOC, which is supplying naloxone arsenic needed.

"They've really stood up an exigency centre to assistance enactment the archetypal responders that are really dealing with the enactment that's happening connected the thoroughfare with those individuals."

Carr besides spoke to the backing of PHR, saying the authorities is moving successful the absorption of betterment oriented care.

PHR is partially funded by the government, but not for its supervised depletion site.

"Prairie Harm does supply truly bully outreach and adjacent enactment for those types of individuals, truthful hopefully they volition beryllium capable to get up and moving arsenic soon arsenic possible," Carr said.