A drug overdose is believed to be responsible for the death of a 38-year-old man who was found unresponsive inside the Coquitlam Public Library's City Centre branch earlier this month.
Surveillance footage from April 12 showed the man entering the bathroom at around 3 p.m. before moving to a chair by the windows facing Pinetree Way. An hour later, staff noticed he was in distress and notified first responders, who arrived shortly before 5 p.m.
Coquitlam RCMP said drug paraphernalia was found in the area and foul play is not suspected. The BC Coroners Service is still investigating.
Todd Gnissios, the executive director of the Coquitlam Public Library, said the man was a frequent customer and well liked by staff.
"They knew him by name," he said, adding he had spoken to the man's sister since he passed away. "He was a longstanding customer. They knew his children, so it was a very personal thing."
People are known to nod off and have a nap in the chairs by the window at the City Centre branch and Gnissios said it is likely anyone walking by assumed the man was sleeping.
He added that the library will be reviewing its procedures but said many changes were made last year after someone overdosed in a bathroom.
During that incident, a woman who was with the OD victim administered naloxone but it had no effect, Gnissios said. It was only when first responders arrived that the man was able to be resuscitated and he survived, he added.
"[Naloxone kits] are not perfect solutions," he said.
Following last year's overdose, policies were changed and staff took part in an occupational health and safety training program.
But because the library is located close to emergency services — Coquitlam RCMP is across the road and Coquitlam Fire and Rescue's Town Centre fire hall is just a kilometre away — Gnissios said first responders do not recommend the library have naloxone kits on hand. If a kit had been available on April 12, he said it likely would not have helped.
"It also forces the staff to get involved in something that… is not what we hire our staff to do," he said, adding: "It happens so rarely there is no way to keep their training up… The best thing to do is phone the emergency services."
(In Vancouver Public Library, trained librarians are permitted to administer naloxone to overdose victims after a policy prohibiting the practice was reversed last year. Librarians who receive the training will be covered by WorksafeBC.)
Counselling services are being offered to Coquitlam Public Library workers and Gnissios said he has spoken with the staff and supervisors who were involved in this month's incident. He added that he was pleased with how the employees handled the incident.
"They did everything they could," he said. "Paramedics congratulated them on dealing with it. I was very pleased with the response."
British Columbia has seen a massive spike in overdose deaths in recent years.
In 2018, 1,510 people succumbed to an overdose, up from 991 in 2016 and 368 in 2014.
@gmckennaTC
