Harm-reduction group using new tool hoping to prevent more fatal overdoses
After seeing a steady rise in overdose deaths in St. Thomas, Ont., advocates have been pushing for a supervised consumption site. But in the meantime, one agency is trying to find creative ways to help prevent more people from dying at the hands of fentanyl.
The Nameless, a grassroots agency, plans to use coloured lights as a way to warn drug users if there is a bad batch of fentanyl going around.
“And if it saves even one person having an overdose, it's a win,” said Brian Elliott, executive director of Inn Out of the Cold, a shelter in St. Thomas.
The volunteer-run group assists over 100 people a week through its outreach programs that serve people experiencing homelessness, mental health issues and substance abuse.
“Folks will let us know that there's a bad batch, we take that information and report it to our health unit,” said Stephanie Miller-Olczak, board administrator of The Nameless, a community funded, harm reduction charity.
“The health unit requires three poisoning reports before they issue a notice. We don’t. We can let the community know right away,” she said.
Even though the Southwestern Public Health Unit will issue overdose warnings to the public through releases, not everyone sees the alerts.
The idea of using lights as an indicator came to Miller-Olczak after buying a few lights from a dollar store for another reason.
“I was playing around with the colours and I thought, ‘What if I stuck a label on it?’ And if there's a bad batch of blue fentanyl we can turn the colour blue and put it in the window,” she explained.
Amanda Zielinski is the board chair of the harm reduction agency. She said they are hoping to hand the lights out to other members of the community, to ensure the message is seen.
“We want to be able to share when people report that there's a bad batch and from there I can send an email saying there's a bad batch of blue, we are lighting up blue tonight. And then our community partner can do the same,” she said.
“I think it's a great idea. Any time community partners can work together to educate our clients we’re much better off,” Elliott added.
“Over the last couple of years, we’ve seen an increase in drug use in St. Thomas. It went from oxycodone to hydromorphone, and now we’re doing fentanyl” said Bobby Wiens, with Standing Together Addicts Share Hope (STASH), a local group trying to assist addicts struggling to fight against the stigma.
He added, “A lot of people think drug addicts are all thieves, up to no good, homeless, have mental health issues, which a lot do but there are people who actually hold down jobs and are in the community.”
Volunteers recommend picking up naloxone kits from your local pharmacy which can help prevent fatal overdoses.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.