In a Medically supervised injecting room (MSIR), clients are made to wash their hands before they are provided with sterile equipment and harm reduction advice.

Clients are not provided with any substances. In case of overdose, trained professionals are ready to administer emergency healthcare, including CPR and the opiate rescue drug Naloxone.

Between 2019 and 2022, the Melbourne-based MSIR in North Richmond had over 391,335 visits and 7,049 overdose events, all of which the facility managed successfully. The area has also had reduced ambulance attendances due to overdoses and reduced reports of public injecting.

Image: Image: ShutterStock – CL Shebley

Produced By: Dominic Giles

Featured In Story: Dr George Dertadian Senior Lecturer for the Centre of Criminology in the faculty of Law and Justice at the University of NSW

First aired on The Wire, Tuesday 26 September 2023