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A brand new drug-checking service has opened in Port Hardy, permitting customers to check their medication for probably dangerous contaminants or components.
A brand new Fourier-Remodel InfraRed (FTIR) spectrometer was arrange at Island Well being’s psychological well being and substance use workplace in Port Hardy this week.
From 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays, folks can drop by the workplace at 7070 Shorncliffe Ave. to have their medication examined, with outcomes full in 20 minutes.
After hours, folks also can drop off samples by way of a safe mail slot on the workplace and decide up their outcomes the following day in particular person or online.
SEE ALSO: New kiosks provide ‘discreet’ medical supplies, like drug testing kits, at Island hospitals
“My hope is that this nameless, fast however protected approach to check medication will assist to decrease overdoses and spare numerous households anguish, silence paramedic sirens, reduce emergency division admissions, and minimize down on hospital stays,” mentioned Port Hardy Mayor Pat Corbett-Labatt in a launch Friday.
The drug checking service in Port Hardy is the primary one to open within the North Island area.
Some samples collected in Port Hardy can even be analyzed by a mass spectrometer in Victoria on a weekly foundation, with the purpose of getting a extra complete have a look at what’s probably inside medication within the area, comparable to fentanyl or fentanyl analogues.
That knowledge can even be used to assist put together drug toxicity alerts if needed.
“We now have seen extra overdoses right here over the previous 12 months and it’s not slowing down,” mentioned Alexa Bisaillon, workforce lead of outreach providers for Island Well being within the space.
“Not solely will care suppliers have the ability to assist improve entry to extra related and drug-specific hurt discount provides, however group members will probably be empowered with data they will share with family members that additionally is perhaps utilizing the identical provide,” she mentioned.
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