Members of the 35 community action teams across B.C. will meet in Nanaimo to share their experiences. (File photo/The Canadian Press)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

meeting of the minds

Province spending $200,000 for one-day overdose and emergency response conference in Nanaimo

Feb 27, 2020 | 7:28 AM

NANAIMO — Teams from all over B.C. directly responsible for tackling the ongoing overdose crisis will meet in the harbour city.

Members from each of the 35 community actions teams across B.C. will attend the Overdose Emergency Response Centre Conference in Nanaimo this spring or summer. It’s hoped team members will share their experiences to better grapple with the crisis which killed nearly 1,000 in B.C. in 2019.

Twenty-two people lost their lives in Nanaimo in 2019.

The conference is funded by $200,000 from the ministry of mental health and addictions, which also funds the community action teams.

A City of Nanaimo staff report indicated an overdose prevention site may need to be set up for the conference, since some of the participants are active substance users.

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The site would follow all provincial guidelines about such a site, will be staffed by health care professionals and only be used by conference attendees.

If the conference is held in a downtown location, the staff report stay transportation to the existing overdose prevention site on Wesley St. would likely be arranged instead.

The staff report said the B.C. Patient Safety and Quality Council will organize and run the conference and nothing will be asked of the City.

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