The drug paraphernalia had been well-hidden in the tunnel.

Image Credit: Maven Lane Childcare Centre

Several children at Vernon's Maven Lane child care centre were pricked by discarded drug needles on Friday after the kids came across a well-hidden stash of drug paraphernalia in the playground.

In a statement, Maven Lane director Hollie Henderson said the daycare has multiple procedures in place to make sure the outdoor play area is safe but someone had gone to great lengths to hide the drug paraphernalia in a play tunnel.

"This discovery has been traumatizing for parents and staff alike. We cannot express our regret enough, and we remain hopeful that there are no long-term repercussions to this incident," Henderson said in a statement.

It was nearly impossible for staff to have found the needles on a routine check.

The childcare centre is surrounded by a locked fence and it would not be easy for an individual to access the playground.

The childcare centre also hires security as well as staff to clean up every morning.

"Prior to opening, all outdoor play areas and facility grounds are thoroughly inspected by our facility team to ensure they are safe to play in. We check every playground, parking lot, and doorwell," Henderson said in the statement. "Most days there is something to tidy up. We have cleaned up needles, feces, homemade weapons, backpack contents, shopping cart contents, garbage, drugs, clothing; you name it, we’ve cleaned it up."

The statement doesn't say how many children were poked by the needle or how old they were.

The obvious concern is for the children's health and exposure to various diseases.

However, Interior Health says that the risk of getting HIV or hepatitis from a discarded needle prick is "extremely low."

Maven Lane has installed surveillance cameras and night lighting to discourage unwanted visitors. It also pays for a private security company that conducts physical surveillance seven days per week.

The childcare centre says it regularly asks homeless people to move from its doorway in the morning.

"Often this polite request is sufficient, but we have faced great aggression; anything from abusive language to full-scale arson as an act of revenge," the statement says.

"While we wait for the results of testing, all we can do is ponder how it happened, and how we can stop it from happening again. As the facility team completed their morning inspection, and the educators completed their safety check before entering the playground with the children, we feel our team did their due diligence. Even if we had prevented this incident, we cannot guarantee there won’t be more ‘holes’ in the future," Henderson said. "What we can do is better educate the children. We are currently expanding our safety check policy to actively involve the children in daily checks as well as involving them in the reporting of findings, giving them more agency in the process and a feeling of empowerment when it comes to ensuring safety."

The childcare centre said it will be expanding its night-time lighting.

"Our children should not be paying the price for the community’s safety issues. We don’t expect to live in a city that never has any danger, but the frequency and level of danger that we face every day is not acceptable," Henderson said. "We will be continuing our relationship with the neighbours to help keep us in the know of out-of-hours activities. We will be contacting the City of Vernon, the local shelter, and the police. Our hope is that the volume of vulnerable individuals that our little block serves daily will prompt more support in keeping us safe."

The issue of discarded needles had been a hot topic several years ago and in 2018 several needle drop boxes were put up around Vernon after members of the public were pricked by needles.

READ MORE: Hundreds of thousands of Interior Health needles remain unaccounted for

The needles were tucked in a hole in the tunnel.

Image Credit: Maven Lane Childcare Centre

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