OVERDOSE PREVENTION
Accidental toxic drug deaths are preventable. We have the tools we need to stop people from dying from drugs.
The harm reduction team offers evidence-based strategies that reduce the risk of loss of life from an increasingly toxic illicit drug supply. We aim to support people who use drugs, and the people who love people who use drugs, with information to mitigate the risk of toxic drug poisoning and to reduce accidental deaths.
We want to provide all the resources we can to support our community members in their pursuit of harm reduction. Our team is usually working on several campaigns at once, collaborating with partners’ campaigns, and cheering on fellow harm reduction organizations. As part of this work, we are constantly adding to our supplies by creating innovative and informative educational resources. The team can provide naloxone training and distribution, take-home fentanyl test strips, referrals to support services, sterile supplies, substance use education, and more. We strive to always have available supplies during our drug-checking hours.
Check out this short video to hear from students about some of our services.
The illegal drug supply in B.C. is more toxic and unpredictable than ever but loss of life due to accidental toxic drug poisoning can be prevented with the right strategies.
Ways to Stay Safer
1. Use the BUDDY System
Use with a buddy or at overdose prevention sites. If you choose to use alone, get someone to look in on you and call for help if needed. Try not to be alone or make sure that a friend or family member are aware of where you are and what you are doing. This is called SPOTTING and it can save lives. Find out more on this website.
2. Start Low, Go Slow. One Drug at a Time.
If you are using a new drug or have a new source, test a small amount first, then go slowly. Using more than one substance increases the risk of overdose. Mixing your drugs (including prescription drugs) with alcohol or other substances is dangerous. If you do mix, use less than you normally would and go slowly. If you can manage it, Get Your Drugs Tested!
3. Visit an Overdose Prevention Site
Overdose prevention sites are managed by health authorities in co-operation with community partners across the province. These designated spaces, which are integrated into existing social service or health care settings or in newly established locations, provide on-site monitoring for people at risk of overdose and allow for rapid response when an overdose occurs. Get Your Drugs Tested!
4. Carry Naloxone. Have A Plan
Be prepared if an overdose happens. Get training and carry naloxone. Make sure your friends and family know where it is kept and know how to use it.
5. Download the Lifeguard App
This life-saving app which can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, connects you to emergency responders if you become unresponsive. The app is activated by the user before they take their dose and depending on the chosen settings will alarm and then send a text-to-voice call to 9-1-1, alerting emergency medical dispatchers of a potential overdose.
6. Be Aware of Your Health
Being sick, run down or having a chronic illness can increase the risk of overdose. Your tolerance can also be lower if you haven’t used for a while, or if you are using a substance for the first time.
7. Call 8-1-1 for Information
Call 8-1-1 to find out how to access harm reduction services and supplies, and treatment and recovery options.
“With dangerous drugs like fentanyl contaminating the vast majority of street drugs, giving people information on what’s in the substance they are using can help them make informed decisions about whether or how much they consume – and could save lives.”– Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Judy Darcy
List of Materials/Supplies at our Site
- Packaging for Drug-Checking Samples: tinfoil, small plastic baggies, envelopes, sample collection forms
- Drug-Checking At Home: fentanyl test strips, small plastic cups, instructions
- Toxic Drug Poisoning Prevention: naloxone kits, informational resources
- Sanitary Supplies: cookies, filters, needles, syringes, vitamin C, condoms, wooden push sticks, water vials, alcohol swabs, safe needle disposal containers
- Educational Material: pamphlets, posters, cards for mental health resources, substance use support, toxic drug poisoning and prevention, and anti-stigma
What you will find onsite at the HaRT location…
Injection Kit
Test Strips
Sample Kits
Drug Checking
Naloxone Kits
Education
What is Naloxone
Providing education and support to people who use drugs, their neighbours, friends, families, and the service providers who work with them is a harm reduction intervention that saves lives. Heroin and other toxic drug poisonings are particularly amenable to intervention because risk factors are well understood and there is a safe antidote — naloxone.
BC Center for Disease Control started the Take Home Naloxone program in 2012 to provide life-saving training and kits to people at risk of accidental toxic drug poisoning. There are now over 1300 sites participating across British Columbia.
Naloxone is a medication that quickly reverses the effects of accidental poisonings due to the toxic drug supply containing opioids such as heroin, methadone, fentanyl and morphine. It is available in BC without a prescription and often given as an injection into a muscle.
Kits are available at no cost to:
- people at risk of an toxic drug poisoning
- people likely to witness and respond to accidental toxic drug poisoning such as a family or friend of someone at risk
Watch the video for more information about Naloxone
Overdose or Drug Poisoning – What’s the difference?
An overdose occurs when a person has taken too much of a drug. If they use heroin that turns out to be more concentrated than they thought, the overdose stops their breathing and without help they may die. This is an example of an overdose of heroin as well as an accidental poisoning.
Drug poisoning can occur when a person obtains heroin from a dealer who has altered the drug to include other substances. In this case, they take their normal dose of heroin but also get a dose of other substances in toxic amounts (e.g., fentanyl). In this example, the person hasn’t overdosed, but they have been accidently poisoned and may die without help.
Click on the infographic to see larger version
Links to Training Resources
BC Naloxone Training Site
Learn how to tell when somebody is overdosing or experiencing drug poisoning, and how to respond with your Take Home Naloxone kit. Online Training course.
How to Use Naloxone
Learn how to recognize and respond to accidental drug overdose and poisoning.
Get Informed
Recognizing the risks and signs of an accidental overdose or poisoning and knowing how to respond can save lives. Learn how and when to use naloxone, receive tips on talking honestly and openly with loved ones, and find supervised consumption and prevention services in your community.
Join us every Tuesday for Naloxone Training!!
We will be in the nechako gathering room every week. Training takes 10-15 minutes and you will receive a kit to take with you! If you are interested in naloxone training, harm reduction, drug checking, and/or sterile supplies come see us or send us a message for more information!
MYTH: People should just stop using drugs!
FACT: Recovering from addiction is much more complicated than just stopping drug use. When someone uses drugs, chemical changes can occur in their brain, making it challenging for them to stop using substances, especially if they don’t have access to supports to stay safer or begin their recovery.
A short video from students about our services
Click on links to view more services