The Metis Nation of Alberta (MNA) offered free naloxone training in Athabasca and Boyle July 9 and 10.
The group arrived at the Athabasca Regional Multiplex and the Boyle Legion, where they also handed out free naloxone kits to anyone who completed the training on how to counteract an opioid overdose.
Kyla Prakash is the research and project co-ordinator for Opioid Navigation Services for the MNA. She said they have been traveling across the province to provide awareness on opioid use.
"We are providing information on carfentanil, fentanyl, harm reduction strategies, how to recognize an overdose, and how to respond to one," Prakash said. "In the month of June, we handed out 131 naloxone kits across the province."
In Athabasca, Prakash said they handed out 12 kits. She added that in Boyle, 28 kits were handed out.
"We saw that nobody was coming to our set-up location at the Boyle Legion Hall," she said. "So what we did was set up on main street. We pretty much made ourselves available to anyone who was in the area, and we ended up getting a larger number of people getting kits and training than we did in Athabasca."
She added she may implement the same idea in their other locations that saw a higher number of people come to them in Boyle.
"Obviously, we would make sure we have permission to set up where we are on the street," Prakash said. "We would also let the local police force in the community know where we are. In Boyle, the RCMP were very supportive of our efforts."
She said the MNA will next be concentrating on the Edmonton and Calgary areas, along with their surrounding regions. But first, Prakash added they wanted to see that the northern Alberta communities were provided the training first.
"These northern regions are a lot more remote," Prakash said. "They do not have as many services or emergency services as they might in southern Alberta, so we started in the north to protect those areas first, and now we are trickling our way down south, and we will definitely be in the Cold Lake and Westlock areas within the next couple of months."
How to spot an opioid overdose
Prakash said there are several signs of how you can tell if someone is having an opioid overdose.
"This person will be unresponsive to either noise or touch," she explained. "Also, their breathing will be slow and absent, they could be choking, gurgling or making snoring sounds from deep within their throat, their pupils will be tiny, their skin is cold or clammy, and their lips or nails are blue. And if you can not tell if their lips are blue because they are a dark individual, just have a look in their gum line."
She added that if you even suspect an overdose, you should call 911 right away.
"There is absolutely no reason to not call 911, because the caller is protected by the good samaritan law," Prakash said.
After calling 911, Prakash said there are several SAVE ME tips that a person could follow.
"They include stimulating, which includes checking for responsiveness or touch," Prakash explained. "Also, they can check the airway by tilting the head back to open it. Next, they would ventilate the person, giving them one breath every five seconds. Next, they would evaluate the person, checking for a response. If there is none, they would do a muscular injection, giving them one dose of nalaxone. Then they would evaluate the person again, and if they are still not responsive, they would then give them a second dose of nalaxone."
She said what dose of nalaxone each individual would need would depend on several factors.
"It will be very dependent on each individual," Prakash continued. "It will depend on the amount of opioid they took, which one they took, their tolerance, as well as their general health. It has taken anywhere from one dose to three doses to bring somebody out of it. But any more than that, the individual could be in the hospital for days getting a nalaxone drip. The nalaxone within the kits provides enough time to get a person to a hospital, or to have an ambulance arrive."
Any further information can be found by calling Prakash at 780-455-2200, extension 432. You could also send her off an email, at [email protected].
