Capacity ‘tripled’ at Overdose Prevention Society since DTES displacement

It’s been three days since the City of Vancouver — with the help of the Vancouver Police Department — removed hundreds of tents and personal belongings on the Downtown Eastside. The move has placed pressure on public health services that are already overwhelmed, according to advocates.

“With the street sweeps right now, we’re probably seeing triple capacity. When it starts raining … It’s getting very hard to step over people,” said Trey Helten, the general manager of operations at the Overdose Prevention Society. “There’s just people lying down sleeping, bodies inside. We're basically like a large community centre.”

When crews began clearing people’s homes on Wednesday, law enforcement blocked off a stretch along East Hastings Street placing limits on who could enter.

Russ Maynard, a harm reduction consultant, called the barrier concerning, pointing to the  life saving care located behind it.

“When they don't coordinate with the local not-for-profits running projects there or the local health authority, people may not be able to access public health services in the middle of a public health crisis with the drug poisonings,” Maynard said.

To overcome the challenges of the last few days, the Overdose Prevention Society sent peers on street patrols and to alleys to monitor for overdoses — saving lives amidst the upheaval. 

“We stopped four overdoses yesterday, but I mean it’s displaced a lot of people,” Helten said.

On Thursday, The Hospital Employees’ Union issued a statement, calling on the city to end the decampment due to health risks.

“Many will be more vulnerable to the toxic drug supply and suffer other negative health outcomes resulting from displacement and isolation,” the statement said.

The province and Mayor Ken Sim have defended their actions, saying the neighborhood has become unsafe due to violence and fires. 

CTV News contacted the mayor’s office and Vancouver Coastal Health to ask if a plan was put in place to make sure people had access to safe comsumption sites prior to the displacement, but did not receive a response before deadline.

For those who have worked in harm reduction for decades, the cycle is one they’ve seen before.

“We have not moved one inch forward. And that says a lot in that we’re just squeezing a balloon and the other ends are bulging,” Maynard said. “How can we not have a better approach 10 years later?”

Since B.C. declared a public health emergency due to the overdose and toxic drug crisis in 2016, more than 11,000 people have died.