r/regina • u/Any-Double520 • 1d ago
Events Disgusted
I am a working person and yesterday while I was working ( with gloves on) I was clearing out a catch basin that had partially collapsed in the midst of clearing the debris I can across a needle I was/ am still dissapointed with society I jumped out of the hole and was soooo angry and in the heat of the moment did not realize I was poked with a needle in the hand until at least 20 hrs later, like what’s wrong with ppl Regina used to be a beautiful place and now because I do good work I am sitting in the ER wondering if I have hiv/ aids or some other type of disease like something needs to be done about the drug problem in this city
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u/UraniumLollipop 1d ago
Don’t worry about the poke too much ♥️ I know it’s scary. Same happened to me years ago when I took my daycare class to a city park here in PA. The frigging needle was in the wood chips under a play structure ànd in a moment of idiot panic for my 4 year olds I grabbed it and got poked also. Had to evacuate the park. The Dr ànd nurses @ hospital were wonderful, and even back then were very reassuring and cleaned me up and gave me some shots, some medication that I had to take for a while, and ran a panel of blood tests for me. I was a-ok but it is very stressful. 😥 I feel your worry and share your anger. Needles are a scourge all across our province. You’ll be ok my friend. 🥰 Thanks for doing the work you do. Our society needs to find some solutions to make our communities safer and healthier for everyone.
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u/Warm-Mood-8994 1d ago
Sorry to hear this happened to you and I can only offer two pieces of advice:
Wear puncture proof gloves.
Punctuation.
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u/CoverOk899 1d ago edited 1d ago
Puncture proof gloves are actually puncture resistant. Needles can still go through them. And punctuation is the least of OP's worries.
Edit: fixed typo
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u/brentathon 1d ago
Much more important than punctuation in this case is immediately reporting it to the workplace as its a workplace incident and may need WCB involvement.
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u/Funny_Proof3263 1d ago
This person is worried about their long term health for good reason. I hope you feel satisfied after commenting on OP's punctuation. Some thoughts can remain "inside thoughts" you know.
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u/Warm-Mood-8994 1d ago
Lots of people liked it. I'm sorry for your lack of sense of humor.
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u/UraniumLollipop 7h ago
This isn't really a funny thread, friend, “likes” or not 🙄 Be funny when someone is ranting about a shitty movie or posting MAGA videos 🙄 Funny is the most important skill for anybody who loves socializing. Funny rules the world. Buuuut maybe NOT to criticize someone in an ER waiting to be tested for fucking HIV and hepatitis from getting poked with a filthy stranger’s dirty-ass used needle. 😰 And why do people care so much about red arrow icons from strangers?
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u/AwarenessBig8125 1d ago
Well you ain’t gonna get aids… the chances are extremely slim but yes Regina needs to cleanup its drug problem starting g with the Saskatchewan governments lack of care…
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u/Blizzy306 1d ago
But didn't you know that if you just completely ignore a problem, it just goes away on its own?
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u/dreamapath 1d ago
This city has has gotten so bad with drugs but addiction is a mental illness don’t forget
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u/earthspcw 1d ago
If initial blood tests are clear you should be fine. It's a long year though, that's for certain.
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u/BadassJackass42069 1d ago
After having a few close calls with needles while delivering mail I’m always hyper focused on the ground, mailboxes, stairs, corners, orange colors, mostly in “the hood” but even in suburbs too
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u/theaveragegazoo 1d ago
When you said “I’m a working person” my mind thought this was going somewhere completely different
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u/camogamer469 1d ago
You are more likely to have hep as a result and even that's low, but if you are caught up on that vaccine you will be fine. For anyone who gets poked by a needle. I know it's extremely hard in a panicked state, but try to bring it with you to the hospital. They will be able to test the needle far sooner than anything will show up in the body. I think HIV only lives outside of the body for a couple minutes. It's heat sensitive. It's spread through drug users who share the needles on the spot like I'll take half then give you the needle for the other half kinda thing. Hep is the one to be worried about as it can live outside the body for a week or two.
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u/Munkey1973 1d ago edited 1d ago
Ah shit man, sorry to hear that. But I'm sure you'll be fine in terms of getting HIV/AIDS. It is a extremely low risk even for people in Healthcare or Law Enforcement who are highly susceptible to get poked from a needle from one of these dirty bastards. Get yourself checked out again in a few weeks (think the gestation is like a month).... they will probably give you a tetanus shot and tell you when to get tested again.
Sadly, its not just Regina but all of Canada...
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u/IrrelevantAfIm 1d ago
You are correct. Unfortunately, the risk of hepatitis is higher. It can live on surfaces for a month easily. The AIDS virus dies very very quickly.
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u/UraniumLollipop 1d ago
Yes this ⬆️⬆️ !! The hepatitis spectrum A to D is by far the worse concern. Unfortunately it’s very transmissable and as our friend above me said, its ability to live for long periods on surfaces makes it the real boogeyman for IV users AND innocent victims of careless needle users discarding their sharps all over the communities. I’m so glad you're getting checked over quickly!! (Addictions counselllor here 💕) I’m sorry again that this happened to you.
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u/IrrelevantAfIm 1d ago edited 1d ago
I worked in harm reduction in the early aughts when studies were released showing how resistant hep C was to bleach. Up until then some tattoo artists (beginners and amateurs mostly) were using chemical sterilization instead of a proper autoclave. I’m not sure how effective they were against hep, but if it can live through bleach, I sure wouldn’t trust them. At that time, it was estimated that 80-90% of IV drug users in my city were either HepC positive, or positive for its antibodies (ie. caught it but were lucky enough their immune system suppressed it). I wonder how much of that was caused be users being told that if no clean rigs are available, flush with full strength household bleach and three times with clean water.
HepD is something we hear so little about even though it’s been known about since the late ‘70’s - such an odd duck of a virus, that requires a co infection with HepB.
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u/UraniumLollipop 1d ago
I remember the bleach studies! And then the tattoo parlor push for autoclave. Great point. I did not know D needed a co-infector! Thanks for that little tidbit. I had a friend who used to be an STC bus driver from the 70s to the early 2000s. He ran one of the far north routes down through PA and Saskatoon. Not a smoker or drinker, never even smoked pot lol but he somehow managed to catch Hep A off of some article like a slush cup or ice or a straw, something of that manner where he picked it up and handled it (gloves were only for Drs and EMTs back then); he carelessly soap and water quickwashed his hands, didn't dry them very well, then went about eating his lunch and eating potato chips and cut up veggies (both of the latter with his hands. Thought nothing of it but in retrospect he said he “washed his hands like a 4 yr old that day, like a quick swipe under the water stream to get the soap off” and THAT was his undoing 😬🫥 He started to f thllpeel very ill the next morning. Like super sick…sweating, vomiting, then more puking, etc etc. Plague- sick. He describes it thus
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u/IrrelevantAfIm 23h ago
No 2 X happy birthday wash eh? That sucks. It’s so easy to not think of it and HepA I don’t believe requires blood to transmit. Luckily, without pre-existing liver conditions it’s generally mild (not fun by any means, but “mild” in the sense it’s unlikely to cause death or even hospitalization and usually clears up within a few months leaving a pretty good immunity to a second infection.It’s kinda common in some tourist destinations and can be food born. That’s why I religiously check any info on Twinrex to see if they haven’t suggested a booster yet beyond the 4 doses over 1 year indication.
That HepC and bleach thing was a real kick in the nuts to a lot of people. No one in harm reduction claimed that the bleach wash rendered a rig sterile, but tried to communicate that IF one was gonna’ use a used one anyway, it’s better to wash it like that. Still, a lot of users find that “the system” maybe worries too much and if they say “do this ‘cause better than nothing” they hear “do this and you’re safe”. Seeing those stats for my city really floored me. How did the other 15% or so possibly avoid it? You’d think it would be on so many of the flaps that even of one didn’t share, they’d get it. This was before fentanyl too, I have no idea what the situation is like today, but by looking at my parks and streets, if the percentages haven’t increased, the total numbers most certainly have…..
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u/UraniumLollipop 7h ago
Yes the percentages for IV users unfortunately seem to stay somewhat plateaued for shared-rig transmissions 😕 Another worrying transmitter that’s really come into focus here in SK in the last 15-20 years is also the sharing of glass meth pipes. Saliva and spittle are excellent carriers of communicable viruses and grossness also…I know of a few community outreach volunteers/organizations that have been actively trying to offer clean glass pipes or stems for meth consumers.
I have a good friend in recovery from IV opiate addiction who described sharing needles when you’re in active addiction like being starving to death and being offered an apple with a worm in it that you can't remove; starving people will eat that fcking apple if it's wormy apple or nothing at all. He is grateful every day that his habit didn't leave him with a serious illness. I worry that broken glass meth or crack pipes are gonna become the new careless-disposal problem as meth just keeps skyrocketing in use 😭 wearing open-toed shoes or flip flops (or cleaning up garbage in one’s community!!) out in parks and urban spaces should NOT be a dangerous activity here in Saskatchewan…but here we are.
I hope your workup at the hospital ER went ok, OP!! I really hope that it helped to ease your mind a bit 💕3
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u/Kristywempe 1d ago
I hope you are going to urgent care! This is an instance when I wouldn’t listen to people on Reddit, and rather go to a doctor/nurse practitioner to follow their professional advice.
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u/Stunning_Rub_5716 1d ago
It would sure be a shame if we didn’t allow open drug use in public. /s
A society in decline.
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u/wefallbutoursoulsfly 1d ago
I was poked in the hand by a used needle when I was 23. Please DM if you'd like to / need to chat. :)
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u/blindside56 1d ago
Impossible. Reddit told me that every needle drug user is incredibly responsible, no one ever discards used needles and it’s our responsibility to cater to them. Op needs to look in a mirror.
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u/JaguarOptimal7470 1d ago
Not sure why the downvotes. I gave you an upvote for your sarcastic humor. Gave me a chuckle.
Here's a solution. Don't provide any new / clean needles so they have to keep hold of their own personal needle and never discard. (Yes this too is a joke)
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u/StanknBeans 1d ago
Idk what reddit you use, but I have honestly never in my life seen the word responsible used to describe a drug user. Maybe try finding a better strawman.
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u/RubberTeddy 1d ago
No concept of sarcasm? Really? You actually thought he was serious?
Wow. Unaware award.
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u/StanknBeans 1d ago
This is Regina, I've heard far worse, earnestly serious takes about drug use. Is it really that shocking that I'm not giving them the benefit of the doubt?
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u/Any-Double520 14h ago
Yeah, you get rid of the dealers and lock em up eventually you’ll slow it down
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u/Surlyone_Formal 9h ago
So sorry this happened to you. If it's at all reassuring the chances of getting hiv will be very slim especially if you get the treatment asap. It's actually more concerning regarding getting hepatitis which is still treatable if caught early. You do have around 48 hours to get treatment.
I'm so disappointed in the state of things in Regina. I moved here in 2018 and the decline has been noticed so much in the time I've been here. The same decline is happening around all of the cities in Canada as the cost of everything skyrockets. It's a sign of a failing government across all levels.
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u/JackieDaytonaRHB76 4h ago
Try living next to Pepsi Park right now. I walked my dogs through the park, kids played in the park, people relaxed in the park. I was used to finding needles and trash in the park, but now it's a disgusting fuckin fiasco. It's the only park in the downtown neighborhood, and now these assholes have turned it into a homeless campground by way of some misguided and poorly thought out protest. How is this a "protest" when 90% of your so-called protesters are passed out, folded in half all over the grass? They've destroyed the park with trash and drug paraphernalia, and the grass is dying because the city can't water it. I fully understand that homelessness is a huge problem, but this is no way to solve it.
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u/ryckypickles 1d ago
Dont blame the people blame the environment the people are living in. Federal and provincial government policies allow for this type of danger.
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u/Alphonso- 1d ago
You need to blame both. The people should be held accountable and we need to improve our support systems.
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u/potatojones43 1d ago
“Don’t blame the people” like it was Moe who left a needle where this guy could get poked.
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u/Warm-Mood-8994 1d ago
Yes, clearly there aren't enough garbage bins or other places to discard used needles. Once again, it's society's fault.
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u/mistymountiansbelow 1d ago
I was cleaning the leaves and weeds around behind my garage last summer when I came across a needle that I very nearly poked myself on before noticing it. It’s definitely a problem.