Sarah Ovens was horrified to see a group of people standing in the rain trying to inject themselves with drugs — the tent she had set up for them a few hours earlier had blown over into a nearby tree.

Ovens, a volunteer organizer working for the Moss Park safe injection site, scrambled with her colleagues in an attempt to restore the only shelter they had.

On Friday, Ontario’s Emergency Medical Assistance Team (EMAT) provided the Toronto Overdose Prevention Society (TOPS) with a new heated tent — something the team had needed. But due to liability issues, EMAT said no to the use of any open flames, leaving the tent useless.

“We’re really lucky no one got hurt.” said Ovens. “In order to inject some drugs, people have to light a flame first.”

Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care spokesperson Laura Gallant said the reason they “strongly advised” against using open flames in the tent was because it could “result in a risk to client and worker safety, particularly since oxygen tanks are inside the tents for necessary overdose monitoring and resuscitation procedures.”

TOPS was also concerned with the size of the tent, as it was smaller than their existing 10-by-20-foot pop-up tent used for safe injections.

“There’s a risk of needle injuries when people don’t have enough room to move around, and if you’re attending to someone who has had an overdose, you need room to go and get to the oxygen tank,” said Ovens.

In September, Drug users and health workers describe the overdose drug epidemic hitting Toronto while urging public health board members to take steps to save lives. (courtesy: Toronto City Council/YouTube)

While TOPS was thankful for the donation, Ovens said they’re disappointed with its unsuitability, adding that it wasn’t what they’d been lobbying for.

“What we’d ideally like is what any other health service has, which is running water, electricity, and an actual roof and walls,” she said.

“We are back to using an unheated, unsecured pop-up tent. We had to hold it down with cases of water and sandbags to try and keep it from blowing away,” read a post on TOPS’ Facebook page.

“We didn’t ask for the EMAT tent — the Ministry just sent it. We have consistently said we need trailers! Other cities across the country are doing this!!”

Gallant stated that “Ontario remains committed to the provision of interim supports to the Toronto Overdose Prevention site working in Moss Park while the federal exemption allowing the group to move indoors at the Fred Victor Centre is in the process of being granted by Health Canada.”

Gallant said “EMAT did not indicate where the injecting should or should not take place,” and that EMAT is “investigating alternative heat methods, including the procurement of industrial grade appliances like hot plates that would be safe for use in a tent environment.”

TOPS, in partnership with the Toronto Harm Reduction alliance, has been running the site in Moss Park since August. It consists of three temporary tents used for safe injections, smoking services, and the distribution of resources such as Naloxone kits.

In September, the federal government reported that almost 3,000 people across Canada had died from opioid-related causes in 2016. That number is expected to exceed 3,000 this year.

“The province is committed to safely supporting TOPS’ important efforts as we work together to ‎accomplish our shared goal of protecting those at risk of overdose and saving lives,” said Gallant.

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Since their opening this summer, TOPS has supervised over 2,000 injections. In September and October combined, they’ve stopped 71 overdoses. As the cold increases, so does the need for support.

“People don’t stop using drugs with the season. The numbers of people are higher than they’ve ever been,” said Ovens.

With files from Emily Mathieu and Alexandra Jones