HIV North displayed its supervised consumption services van Monday afternoon in an effort to inform the public and reduce stigma around the service.

Local officials, emergency services and residents inspected the van during the open house at Revolution Place in Grande Prairie, which also included a trade show for addictions and substance supports.

Sarah Boxall, director of Supervised Consumption Services for HIV North, was “extremely grateful” that the province decided to fund this mobile service.

“The opioid crisis hit Grande Prairie really hard,” she said. “Our agency, HIV North, had several people brought to the agency who were in the middle of an overdose. We’re hoping to kind of address that with a health response.”

While Alberta currently has six fixed consumption sites, this will be the first mobile service to operate in the province. Calgary is the only other city in Alberta with an application for a mobile site, which would be operated by HIV Community Link. According to Health Canada, this application is still in the review stage with a site address to be determined.

“In 2017, Grande Prairie had the highest rates of overdoses in Alberta. So we started a feasibility study and we did surveys to prove that there was a need for a supervised consumption services here in Grande Prairie,” Boxall said. “It’s been two years in the making.”

According to an Alberta Drug Use and Health Survey of 200 residents of Grande Prairie, 75 per cent of individuals reported injecting in public, while 34 per cent reported unsafely discarding their needles.

Once inside the van, a user will begin the intake process by washing their hands at a sink to prevent infection. They will then be allowed to snort, swallow or inject their substances at a consumption booth. No smoking is allowed in the unit.

After consuming their substances, the user can sit at the recovery booth. Trained staff will monitor users for any adverse effects or overdose signs. They will also engage users in conversation while offering education, resources and referrals.

“We want to get substance consumption off the streets,” Boxall said. “We want to provide people with a safe, hygienic place to consume their substances in, ideally decreasing the amount of needle debris and overdoses in the community. We’ll have medical staff here who can respond to overdoses and save lives.”

Allan Holmes is the founder of Iridia Medical, a Vancouver-based company that partnered with Intercontinental Truck Body to build the van. He explained the advantages of having a mobile consumption service over a fixed site.

“The community at this point wanted to see where they would need the resources,” Holmes said. “What you can do with these mobile sites is you can move them around and find out where the need is without spending the money to build a fixed site.”

HIV North is currently working to dispel myths about supervised consumption services, such as how this service gives out substances to users.

“We do not give out drugs,” Boxall said. “An individual has to bring the drugs with them.”

She also stated that they would not be encouraging drug use. On average, those who access this type of service have consumed drugs for two years or more.

Boxall added that a majority of users who utilize supervised consumption services are homeless and have nowhere else to consume substances.

HIV North plans to operate the van once Health Canada approves its application, which is currently in the decision stage. Boxall said the van would be located behind Rotary House and open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week.