Supervised consumption sites: Understanding the data

Number of times a certain drug was consumed in the sites during the reporting period.

This indicator is also presented as the percent of consumptions, which is the proportion of all drug consumptions involving a specific drug during the reporting period, expressed as a percentage. This shows what share of all drug uses involved a specific drug.

Number of times EMS services (ambulance/paramedics) were called during the reporting period.

Number of calls made for police services, which could be for any number of reasons and are not necessarily related to a crime or violence.

Total number of clients new to a particular SCS. This is reported as an average per month, which is the total number of new clients divided by the number of months in the reporting period.

Drug overdoses that took place in an SCS during the reporting period and which did not result in death.

This indicator is reported as both a number and a rate. The rate reflects how often non-fatal overdoses happen relative to how many times drugs are used. It is expressed as the number of overdoses for every 1,000 consumptions.

Number of other medical emergencies (not related to overdose events) that occurred during the reporting period.

Drug overdoses that required the use of naloxone (a fast-acting drug that can temporarily reverse the effects of opioid overdoses).

This indicator is reported as both a number and a rate. The rate reflects how often overdoses requiring the use of naloxone happen relative to how many times drugs are used. It is expressed as the number of overdoses requiring naloxone for every 1,000 consumptions.

Referrals

Referrals include any referral made to health or social support services not directly related to drug consumption. This can include:

• wound care
• testing for STBBIs (sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections)
• primary health care
• mental health care
• food and shelter services
• legal aid
• employment assistance

Referrals to services onsite

Any referral made to services that are offered within the same building as the SCS, but not in the SCS space (for example, an SCS which is attached to a community health centre).

Referrals to services offsite

Any referral made to services that are offered at a different location than the SCS or the building that the SCS is located in.

Total referrals

Any referral made to services that are offered in a connected onsite location, or offsite in a different location.

Any health or social support services not directly related to drug consumption, that are offered within the SCS space (for example, a nurse holding a clinic within the space). This can include:

• wound care
• testing for STBBIs (sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections)
• primary health care
• mental health care
• food and shelter services
• legal aid
• employment assistance

Total visits
Total number of times people used a site during the reporting period.

Average daily visits
Total number of visits to all sites divided by the total number of days sites were operating during the reporting period.

Average visits per month
The total number of visits to all sites divided by the total number of months during the reporting period.

Average visits per site per month
The total number of visits across all sites divided by the number of site-by-month observations in the reporting period.

The number of different people using a site during the monthly reporting period. A person will only be counted once by a site each month, but the same person could be counted more than once when looking at data covering a period longer than one month.

Average unique clients per month
The number of times different people visited a site divided by the number of months during the reporting period.

Average unique clients per site per month
The total number of unique clients across all sites divided by the number of site-by-month observations in the reporting period.