Overdose prevention RV totalled in crash, forces pause on safe injection and drug testing

A Winnipeg harm-reduction centre has temporarily paused its mobile safe injection and drug testing services after their vehicle was written off after a hit and run, prompting concern more overdoses will happen as the centre awaits a federal exemption to get back up and running.

Sunshine House staff were on the evening shift on July 2, driving the overdose prevention RV known as MOPS, when another vehicle ran into them at an intersection. No staff members were injured.

Caleb Clay, the mobile overdose prevention site's administrative manager, said the hit and run left the front of the RV with extensive damage, which Manitoba Public Insurance wrote off.

Since hitting the road in 2022, the RV has offered a safe place for people to use substances and be supervised by staff trained in overdose response. The RV would also drive around to encampments in the city to distribute harm reduction supplies and test drugs.

"Unfortunately in Winnipeg we are in the middle of a pretty hefty drug toxicity and overdose crisis, so folks are certainly going to continue to overdose ... the main concern is just the the safety of folks who use drugs," said Clay.

According to a report covering the first year of the RV's operation, street drugs were consumed more than 7,000 times at relative safety in the vehicle with only 20 overdoses among 26,154 visits and no deaths reported.

Around 550 to 600 people use Sunshine House's services daily, including between 20 and 100 people at the RV on the evening before the crash, said Clay.

Federal exemption needed

After the crash, Sunshine House began using a decommissioned ambulance donated by the Salvation Army, but not all services can be operated out of the replacement vehicle.

Sunshine House required a federal exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to be used as a safe injection and drug testing site.

While the federal and provincial governments are helping the organization to get the same exemption from Health Canada for their new vehicle, until then, the centre can only distribute supplies for safe drug consumption with the ambulance, said Clay.

He's worried that people will be less aware of the drugs they are consuming as they will have one less alternative to test them, especially during the evenings when the majority of testing sites in Winnipeg are closed.

Clay is also concerned about those who use injection as their main method of drug use because "they may be doing it elsewhere in less-ideal circumstances."

He's recommending people can use other community resources like Nine Circles Community Health Centre or Street Connections to test their drugs while the new vehicle gets the exemption for it.