(Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)

By Nolan Kowal

Safety first

Safety concerns and tips surrounding discarded needles in P.A.

Apr 23, 2024 | 3:52 PM

As the final few piles of snow melt and the seasons change, it’s quite possible Prince Albert residents will notice discarded needles lying on the ground across the city.

Lyle Karasiuk, the director of public affairs with Parkland Ambulance, said there are safety concerns surrounding needles.

“I think it’s an ongoing issue in any community, not just in the City of Prince Albert,” Karasiuk said. “While these things exists, so does sharp glass, so does other things in the community. And we want to make sure that people deal with all this safely.”

“The easiest and simplest way for folks is if they find a needle, they need to get ahold of somebody who might come out into the public area [to dispose of it].”

Karasiuk said there are safe ways to pick up needles as long as people feel comfortable doing so.

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“They need to find something to pick it up with, rather than using their bare hands…a pair of pliers, an old pair of kitchen tongs, something like that,” he said. “Then they need to find something that can act as a vessel or a container to hold the sharp object that you picked up. That could be something like an empty soft drink or soda bottle, or an old soup can for example.”

“Make sure you have that comfort level. If you don’t then don’t touch it, report it in your community. If you are comfortable dealing with it, pick it up by the plunger side which is not the sharp side, and drop it needle side into that vessel container.”

He said Prince Albert has yellow needle disposable boxes around town. He said you can also drop them off at either Parkland Ambulance location in the city, or Access Place, where the needle exchange program is.

He said to avoid dropping discarded needles into recycling bins or trash cans.

“That’s probably the worst place…because recycling, sometimes people will handle that stuff, and we don’t want somebody’s problem to become somebody else’s problem,” Karasiuk said.

“There’s a safe way to dispose of needles.”

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nolan.kowal@pattisonmedia.com