Walk through an Alberta hospital emergency department these days and you might be surprised. It is not the Covid-19 virus that is taxing our system and its resources. We have another problem on our hands, one that has been brewing for a long time.. Our emergency rooms have become the detox room for drug users..You name the drug and you will meet it there: meth, crack, alcohol, and more. Drugs and alcohol are wreaking havoc in people’s lives, and as they turn to a substance to turn off the noise and voices, they are turning up in droves at Alberta emergency rooms..Drugs are brutal. Drugs take over and come out in rage. People are out of control, incomprehensible, and it is our health care workers – not professional drug addiction counsellors and police officers -who are first in line to take the brunt of the black out..On any given night, many of the patients who show up to the hospital for treatment have overdosed. They are real problems and real people and they need help, but there must be a better way. They are taking up valuable space and capacity when our ER’s and staff have precious little to spare..One nurse I know works on those front lines. She and her colleagues are no strangers to being kicked, punched, spit at, sworn at, and threatened by drug users, and that’s only this week. ER nurses and doctors are miracle workers, keeping truly sick people alive. Yet they are often stuck baby-sitting high or drunk entitled teenagers screaming and demanding care after their latest drug experiment..Drugs make people unpredictable, and it is our ER nurses and doctors who face that unpredictability. Nurses have the bruises to show for it. In fact, nurses face among the highest workplace violence rates in Canada, and that’s not including the viruses and diseases..This drug-use epidemic has been taxing our ER system for too long. Our emergency rooms and hospitals have become the default catch-all for those using drugs and alcohol to the detriment of themselves and others. While our nurses and doctors are doubling up and prepping for an onslaught from a virus to which we have no cure and expect to impact the lives of millions, drug abuse is a costly drain on our system. If we want to save a few dollars and save lives, we need to get creative and do something about it..While some drug users do need acute care and psychiatric interventions, help perhaps as they choke on their own vomit, or emergency NARCAN injections for opioid overdoses, most do not..A kicking and swearing teenager who got high after a fight with her boyfriend is not an emergency. Under current laws, the ER cannot turn anyone away. The drunk teen can take up a bed any day of the week until they sleep it off, and they know it. Despite their belligerence, they are even provided a warm blanket and ice water. Sleep tight little angel while others wait in line. Some have even made these cozy ER stays a regular part of their week. It’s downright selfish..Alberta has something to learn from this crisis, something we should have done long ago. We should have designated places for drug users to turn to when they have overdosed – places where they could recover and seek the mental health care that their disease requires. Social workers and other services have long been in place to help addicts and troubled people in our society, but ER rooms should no longer be the primary place where they seek help. As we face something much bigger, it might be time we make the changes that make sense for our emergency health services. Let’s create a place where this problem can truly be addressed and these addicts can be helped to get off the substances wreaking havoc on their lives..We are on the verge of a major health care crisis. We need our health care workers, every doctor, and nurse to be at the ready for whatever Covid-19 brings our way. These are the best our province has and while most of us shelter in place, these workers don’t. They will not only be fighting a virus that they don’t have immunity over, but many this week will be spat on by drug users who simply don’t care..These are some of Alberta’s heroes and as Albertans it is time we stand in their corner and give them the advantage in this fight for our lives..Bruce McAllister is Executive Director Rocky View 2020 & is the former Wildrose and PC MLA for Chestermere-Rockyview
