B.C. supportive housing worker says staff have been hospitalized due to toxic drug fumes

A mental health and addictions worker for the Victoria Cool Aid Society says she has been hospitalized after being exposed to toxic drug fumes while at work.

CTV News is calling her Heather and concealing her identity at her request because she feared losing her job for speaking out.

“I don’t feel safe at all,” she said Wednesday. “That’s why I’m talking to you. Something has to get done about all of this, none of the workers are safe—I’m not the only one feeling unsafe.”

In fact, Heather, along with her co-workers, are now required to wear a respirator mask at certain times, such as when checking on rooms or potential overdoses at the old Tally Ho Hotel, a supportive housing facility run by Cool Aid and funded by the province, or at a few other facilities run by the Cool Aid Society.

Don McTavish, the director of housing and shelters with the Cool Aid Society says testing last fall confirmed dangerous levels of drug fumes at the building, prompting them to take steps to improve the air there.

“We started to get more and more reports from staff of symptomatic exposures to second-hand smoke when they’re attending to overdoses or going into rooms,” he said Tuesday. “We did some air testing and found there was some concerning levels of chemicals in the air.”

Heather says she’s one of many co-workers who have been subjected to exposure to drug fumes—something she says happens on a daily basis.

“Drug exposures are not a fun situation. They make you very nauseous, you’re very dizzy,” she said. “Many of us have wound up in hospital for six, eight, 10 hours.”

McTavish says the problem and solution of mandating masks in certain circumstances reflects a shift to serious drugs being smoked rather than injected.

“It’s a new reality that we’re all being faced with in smaller areas, like a building vestibule, an elevator or going into an apartment,” said McTavish.

BC Conservative leader John Rustad raised the issue during question period Wednesday. He says the situation facing Cool Aid workers reflects problems caused by decriminalization, plus a lack of proper addiction treatment.

“Does this premier think it’s acceptable that workers in taxpayer-funded facilities have to wear gas masks to prevent the inhalation of drug fumes?” demanded Rustad.

B.C.’s housing minister, Ravi Kahlon, acknowledged there are problems, especially at the old Tally Ho facility, where although the province helped improve the air quality and circulation last fall, there are still some living there who ignore “no smoking” rules.

“There is a no smoking policy at that site, and the challenge for us always is if you kick people out, where do they find themselves: a homeless situation,” said Kahlon.

McTavish says the mandatory mask policies apply not only at the old Tally Ho but some other locations managed by Victoria’s Cool Aid Society, but only for certain tasks, like responding to an overdose.