With safety of the public and staff in mind Cobourg is taking a proactive approach regarding discarded needles.
Emergency Planner Shannon Murphy said at the beginning of July all Parks staff were trained how to properly dispose of biohazardous waste including needles and drug paraphernalia.
“There was a risk to staff and the public of needles laying around so we had to look at the industry standard and what was the safest way,” said Murphy.
If a needle was found, staff were trained how to properly pick it up using tongs and dispose of it in a Sharp’s Cleanup Kit.
Murphy’s previous career was as a paramedic in British Columbia and like most emergency services they are aware how to properly dispose of anything like needles that are more commonly found with the epidemic of drugs.
“Recognizing that we have park staff who are occasionally finding these, we must ensure they are trained to properly dispose of them.”
“So we had to find out what was the industry standard for a safe way of handling needles and what our staff were comfortable with.”
Each of the parks department vehicles along with the Marina building now carry a Sharp’s Cleanup Kit to ensure if they find a needle they can properly dispose of it.
Ironically, Murphy said for people that aren’t used to working around needles the most common way they get poked is re-capping the needle.
“They think they are doing something good before they throw it in the garbage, but the reality is it shouldn’t go in the garbage and never recap a needle. That’s how people get poked.”
This is the first year this type of training has been implemented for Cobourg staff.
“Some of our parks staff are students so we wanted to make sure we had something in place for that person who might once in a season come across a needle that they could properly pick it up and be totally safe.”
Along with needles they may find there are other hazardous waste items that staff or the public may come across.
A “pan” which is approximately one inch in size is what people cook the illegal drugs in before injecting it into themselves with the needle.
“It is dangerous and in addition it is biohazardous waste.”
Pipes (glass tube) used for smoking drugs are also dangerous because there could be resin from the drugs on the pipe.
“These are the things we were concerned about. Staff were finding things like needles and spoons and pans.”
Parks staff were also concerned if they are cleaning out under a bush and reaching under shrubs and pulling out debris they may not see one.
“It was a educational approach to make staff think of what their function was and what they were doing. They have clamps they can reach under shrubs and a using a different type of work glove.”
In speaking with parks staff they believe there was approximately 10 needles found last year, but one of the problems was they didn’t document where the needles were found.
With technology, each time a needle has been found since July they have plotted where they were found.
“We’ve now implemented documentation so we are keeping track and looking at a number of things including if there is an area where we are seeing more than another.”
Since July a total of 16 needles have been found, mainly in park areas including Donegan Park, the marina, but mainly in the area Rotary Harbourfront Park and in the washrooms.
“Over the summer, the weather being warm there was more transient people, but with the weather getting colder we are seeing a decline in recorded incidents.
“We have seen them in parks mostly, but not on the beach. People worry about them being found on the beach, but we have a sand rake, and we have not been finding them there.”
Twice this summer people who have found needles placed them in coffee cups and handed them to Parks staff.
“The challenge is we have heard of a story of someone picking up a cup and crushing the cup and getting poked.”
“If we put them in something that is not proper disposal container that identifies it as a biohazard, it could be a danger to them or another person who may handle it.”
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
