As spring cleaning continues people are discovering all kinds of things in their yards including forgotten toys, old tools, and hypodermic needles.

That was the experience of Steinbach resident Dale Siemens: “My kids wanted to go play in the backyard and I thought we would clean up a bit of garbage, seeing as the snow had melted. Then, we noticed a bunch of needles on the ground and some were used and some were new.”

Siemens was admittedly startled: “It was quite surprising. I’m not sure how aware kids are of the dangers of needles and what to do if they find them, so I was glad I was there.”

Like many others in his situation, Siemens was unsure of how to best dispose of the needle, so he called the RCMP who directed him to the hospital.

Bev Unger is the Regional Manager for Public Health and Healthy Living for Southern Health. She says most people who are administering their own medication have proper sharps disposal containers. However, she acknowledges that there is always the possibility needles are accidentally dropped or littered.

“On occasion, things will go awry and a needle could be found out in public,” offers Unger. “We want people to be careful around them and not get poked and so put them at risk of getting blood-borne diseases.”

Unger encourages anyone who finds a needle to handle it with thick gloves and pliers, place it in a sturdy plastic container, seal the lid, and take it to Steinbach’s hazardous waste disposal site at the dump.

“We don’t want people to put those containers in the recycling,” she stresses.

While it is not common to find hypodermic needles and syringes scattered about, Unger notes that it is becoming more frequent in some communities.

“We do have individuals in our communities who use needles to inject drugs so there is always the possibility people are not disposing of their needles properly.”

Unger says Southern Health has observed a slight increase of discarded needles in two specific communities within their jurisdiction: Steinbach and Portage La Prairie.

Unger indicates that these two cities are the only sites where Southern Health offer a special public health program, so the small rise is not altogether unexpected. 

“We hand out needles and harm reduction supplies, to encourage people who are using drugs not to share them,” she explains. “When they do come and pick up supplies, we give them an official sharps containers for them to use in hopes that they will actually use them.”

Meanwhile, with Pick Up and Walk coming up, Unger says participants will be given clear instructions stating that sharps should be left alone and reported to city personnel who will deal with them on a case-by-case basis.