Volunteers at a facility set up to help tackle Scotland’s drug deaths crisis have saved a man's life.
Trained first aiders at a mobile Drug Consumption Room run by activist Peter Krykant in Glasgow city centre were alerted on Friday afternoon after a man took an overdose in a nearby alley.
The two volunteers from the converted minibus ran to his aid and gave him a shot of the overdose reversal drug naloxone, which stabilised him until an ambulance arrived.
Medics took the man to hospital, where he was expected to recover.
The drug user had turned up to use the van, parked on Parnie Street, off the Trongate in the city, which is being privately funded and operated because the Hoome Office blocked an official Drug Consumption Room in the city.
But he didn’t enter the facility, which has clean needles and chairs, as a police car was parked next to the converted mini-bus. A member of the public had made a complaint that drugs were being taken.
Krykant said: “I think it’s very likely that our volunteers saved a life today.
“The man had intended to get on the bus but instead went round the corner when he saw the police. His friend came round to tell us that he had collapsed because of an overdose.
“One of our people quickly took a shot of naloxone to the scene and gave him an injection. The ambulance arrived soon afterwards and we believe there was a very positive outcome.
“This emergency was stressful for everyone but it exemplified the daily turmoil faced by drug users using street corners with variable dosages of drugs.
“The death rate in Scotland is worse than any other country in Europe and many people have not been lucky enough to be close to an naloxone supply when the overdose has happened.”
Glasgow has been pinpointed as the single most needy city in the continent for a DCR.
No-one has ever died in a DCR despite there being scores now set up around the world.
Krykant, a former homeless heroin addict, took direct action after becoming frustrated at how the issue of safe drug facilities, or “shooting galleries” became endlessly politicised with Westminster rejecting out of hand any calls to decriminalise drugs, which the Daily Record supports.
Our latest annual death count, 1,187 for 2018, is expected to be even worse at the next count, marking a catastrophic failure by the Scottish Government to tackle the crisis.
