Alpha House partnership reduces needles on street, frees up emergency calls

Alpha House says their partnership with the city and fire department to reduce the amount of needle debris in Calgary has resulted in the collection of more than 1,000 needles a month.

The organizations started the collaboration in January, with a targeted response to needle debris, proactive patrols and redistribution of city-managed needle boxes.

Adam Melnyk, an outreach manager at Alpha House, says approximately 60 per cent of all needles collected are done so through patrols and their peer support program

"In the first six months of operation, the needle response team collected a volume of 6,570 needles … through our peer support, individuals with lived experience are able to give back by working with our team," said Melnyk in a release.

The non-profit charitable agency says their team shares data on collection volume and common needle debris locations while responding to calls for disposal of needles.

"We're GPS mapping throughout the whole city and it's interesting to see that it's a city-wide issue. Certainly we see a lot in the downtown core, which isn't surprising," said Melnyk at a press conference Wednesday.

However, since the initiative Alpha House says they've had 200 per cent fewer calls to pick up drug debris this year than in 2018.

"Certainly the goal is to find needles before Calgarians come across them and also the cost-saving measure for the fire department to not have to respond to needle debris is also important," he said. 

Deb Bergeson, the fire department's assistant deputy chief, says this enhances the fire crews' response efficiencies.

"What we have found is that there has been a 226 per cent decrease in the number of needle responses that the Calgary Fire Department has had to attend to, which means we're being freed up for other emergency responses," she said.

The fire department added that because of the partnership and data, they've redistributed and added up to five needle debris boxes to areas of focus. 

"Through collaboration, we recognized the need for added needle debris boxes, identified priority locations, and are working on the immediate installation in these areas," said Bergeson.