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Volume 57 • Issue 2
Overdose prevention kits available for drug users at risk from fentanyl and other opioids BY IAN GRAHAM EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET
The risk posed by fentanyl and other opioids is low for those who don’t use illicit drugs, but takehome anti-overdose kits available in four Northern Manitoba communities this week can be a lifesaver for those who do. Sixty take-home naloxone kits will be available for people in the Northern Regional Health Authority (NRHA) by the end of this week, says NRHA chief medical officer of health Dr. Michael Isaac - 15 each in Thompson, Flin Flon, Gillam and The Pas. Naloxone is a drug that blocks the effects of opioids and can be administered intravenously, intramuscularly or via a nasal spray. Administering it to someone suffering from an opioid overdose can keep them alive and breathing so fi rst responders have time to transport them to a hospital or other medical facility for treatment. Opioids include drugs derived from opium poppies like morphine and heroin as well as synthetic and semi-synthetic drugs like hydrocodone, oxycodone, fentanyl and carfentanil. The kits will be available at the Thompson Public Health offi ce at the NRHA administration building next to the Thompson General Hospital, at the Gillam
Hospital public health office and at the primary health care centres in Flin Flon and The Pas. “I think there’s community concern around fentanyl and carfentanil and I understand that but I think it’s important to get the message out to the public that for those who are not using illicit opioids the risk is very low to them,” Isaac said Jan. 4. “You hear a lot in the media about how it only takes a couple very small grains of fentanyl or carfentanil to kill someone and indeed that’s true but the average individual who’s not using illicit opioids in the Northern Health Region is unlikely to be exposed to those formulations. I think the risk to the general public here is quite low.” The kits being distributed to drug users look like a pencil case and contain two vials of naloxone, two syringes, an alcohol wipe, a mask to help with rescue breathing and an instruction card. The drug can be injected intramuscularly - into either the deltoid muscle of the shoulder and upper arm area or the thigh and buttocks area - and is designed to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose for a period of time up to about 20 minutes, depending upon the strength of the drug that caused the overdose. As long as someone isn’t allergic to it, there
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Thompson Citizen photo courtesy of NRHA Providing take-home naloxone kits to illicit drug users is an effective way to help prevent opioid overdose deaths, says Northern Regional Health Authority chief medical officer of health Dr. Michael Isaac. Sixty of the kits will be available through public health offices in Thompson, Flin Flon, Gillam and The Pas beginning this week. is no health danger posed by naloxone, which is used by paramedics and in hospitals to treat suspected or potential opioid overdoses. “People who are using opiates of course can be susceptible to having an overdose because of the actions of the drug on their brain stem but we’re also finding that those who are using other drugs are also potentially overdosing from opiates because those drugs are being added to non-opioid drugs and they don’t really know
what they’re taking essentially,” says Isaac, listing some of the symptoms of a potential opioid overdose. “After someone becomes either unconscious or really looks like they’ve got severe sleepiness, they may have some slow, shallow breathing, snoring or gurgling noises, trouble breathing, slow heartbeat, they might have cold clammy skin or trouble walking and talking. If someone were to come up to them and try and rouse them they would be
unresponsive.” If you encounter someone you suspect has suffered from an opioid overdose, the first course of action would be to call emergency medical personnel, Isaac says. After that, go through a series of steps as outlined by the mnemonic device SAVE ME - stimulate the person, check their airway for obstructions, start ventilating or giving rescue breaths to
that person, do an evaluation to see if they wake up or they’re improving, and if not to administer the naloxone injection. The kits have two vials so of naloxone so that a second injection can be given if the first doesn’t cause them to wake up with a couple of minutes. Isaac says giving kits directly to drug users has shown to be effective in preventing opiod overdose deaths. “If you go into the literature and look at who’s around when someone overdoses it’s usually someone that is also using illicit drugs,” Issac said. “We’re very much focusing on giving the kits to those who use illicit drugs. They are at the highest risk of overdosing or being present when someone else overdoses.” Studies have also shown that fears that providing naloxone to drug users would encourage them to engage in riskier behaviour on account of feeling safer aren’t supported by evidence, Isaac says. The Addictions Foundation of Manitoba (AFM) is also taking steps to address people’s concerns about fentanyl by hosting community forums around the province, including one in Thompson on Jan. 19 at the Letkemann Theatre from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Continued on Page 2
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