Craig Plain knew something was amiss when a long-term client in Vancouver鈥檚 Downtown Eastside stopped coming into his pharmacy.

It was near Christmas this past year, and Plain and his staff at Pier Health Resource Centre (223 Main St.) started to ask around the tight-knit community if anyone had seen the missing client.

鈥淣obody knew where he was, but we knew where he lived,鈥� Plain, 37, told Peace Arch News last week.

鈥淪ure enough, we went up to his room and found him, it was far too late鈥� which really shook us. Just a totally sweet guy, worked very hard in the Downtown Eastside to make the Downtown Eastside better.鈥�

The man was one of deaths in the province last year.

In the weeks leading up to the tragedy, Plain, who was born and raised in South 性视界传媒 and has been pharmacy manager at Pier Health for two years, had been working with the BC Centre for Disease Control to make naloxone 鈥� the life-saving overdose antidote 鈥� more accessible.

At the time, the BCDC was providing different Downtown Eastside health-care units 鈥� including Insite 鈥� with free naloxone kits. Pharmacies, however, were forced to charge patients about $50 for a kit.

鈥淥bviously for $40-$50 for two naloxone ampules, that鈥檚 not really feasible. People on Downtown Eastside don鈥檛 have $50 to spend, especially when it鈥檚 not for them.鈥�

Through its partnership with BCDC, Pier Health was the first pharmacy in B.C. to distribute free naloxone kits and training. The pharmacy received approval Dec. 22, but didn鈥檛 receive the free naloxone kits until January.

Not long after the approval, Plain used the antidote to save someone鈥檚 life.

Plain and other staff members were leaving the office for the day 鈥� they usually take the back door.

鈥淲e were pushing the door to get out, we couldn鈥檛 get out, something was stuck in the way.鈥�

He assumed it was either a garbage can or bags blocking the door.

鈥淲e didn鈥檛 know what was going on. We just kept pushing and pushing.鈥�

Eventually, Plain opened the door wide enough to peek around the corner.

鈥�(We) saw this guy slumped over not responding to us at all,鈥� Plain said. 鈥淲e quickly ran up and got our naloxone kit and quickly ran down. We checked his pulse, his breathing 鈥� he had about a few breaths per minute, he was pretty low. We gave him the naloxone right off the bat and called 911. In about three minutes he went from unconscious to sitting up and looking at us.鈥�

The man 鈥� who recovered from the near-fatal overdose 鈥� is now a client of Pier Health.

Addicts overdosing to the point of needing naloxone is now a daily occurrence in the Downtown Eastside, Plain said.

鈥淛ust two days ago there was another call,鈥� he said Friday, adding that the owner of Pier Health looked out of his office window and saw a commotion.

鈥淪o I grabbed my kit and went outside,鈥� Plain said.

He quickly administered naloxone to a man who was overdosing.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know the end result of this guy, but most of our pharmacists in our clinic have given (naloxone) at least once.鈥�

Since the beginning of this year, the pharmacy has handed out approximately 50 kits. He said there have been a few cases where Pier Health staff have heard people screaming in the streets for naloxone, 鈥渂ut so many people have the kits, we haven鈥檛 had to run out every time.鈥�

For his leading work on the front line of the city鈥檚 opioid crisis, in June, Plain was named the of the Year by the Canadian Pharmacist Association.

Receiving the award, he says, is conflicting.

鈥淚鈥檓 still understanding this trophy thing. I think the overdose and death count is about the highest it鈥檚 ever been and I鈥檓 standing here with a trophy for all the work I鈥檝e done in Downtown Eastside. What have I done? The numbers aren鈥檛 going the way we want to see yet. These things we鈥檙e doing are very new and it will take a bit of time to see those overdose rates drop and the death rate get to, ideally, zero.鈥�

He said he considers the trophy a victory for the people of Downtown Eastside, because the changes he鈥檚 made came from the residents of the neighbourhood.

鈥淚 also wanted to mention the importance of the staff at Pier Health that helped to get the recognition for the award. I certainly couldn鈥檛 have achieved it (with just) myself and the director/owner Bobby Milroy. We have put together an enthusiastic team and, more importantly, an open-minded group of health-care professionals that are careful not to judge or stigmatize people.鈥�

Plain鈥檚 work now is a far cry from when he worked at Rexall in Ocean Park, notes his father, Dwight, who was a pharmacist for a combined 41 years in White Rock鈥檚 Central Plaza and Ocean Park Shopping Centre. The two worked together up until his retirement in 2011.

The elder Plain told PAN his son goes beyond the pharmaceutical requirement of the job.

鈥淚t鈥檚 different than other pharmacies. The other ones say here鈥檚 your (methodone) and here you go. Craig sits down, gives it to them, checks the patients for sores or anything else鈥� They do deliveries, too, to the patients that can鈥檛 get out,鈥� he said.

Dwight Plain agreed the Downtown Eastside is a different world.

鈥淚t is, yep. But they鈥檙e trying to change it,鈥� he said.

Plain and his team are already beginning to carve a new path in pharmaceuticals, a path he expects the province 鈥� and, potentially, the nation 鈥� to soon follow.

His team is one of the first pharmacies in the Downtown Eastside to begin a hydromorphone injection program. Plain described the medication as a new alternative for people who have failed on methodone and suboxone drug therapies.

The staff are able to give patients hydromorphone through an IV in a controlled environment.

鈥淚 have seen many people break down in tears over the concept as they sat in the pharmacy,鈥� Plain told PAN via email. 鈥淥ne person in particular said it was the first time in over 25 years that he didn鈥檛 feel like a criminal and wasn鈥檛 ashamed that he needed to use. Pretty powerful and intense emotions early on for this project.鈥�

A graduate of Earl Marriott Secondary, SFU and UBC, Plain said he enjoys working in the Downtown Eastside, an area rampant with mental illness and addiction.

鈥淚t鈥檚 one of those areas in health care that if you鈥檙e not into it to make changes in peoples lives and improve health care, then you鈥檙e going to burn yourself out very quickly. If you鈥檙e there to milk the system and make money off prescriptions, the patients, the residents really see that.鈥�