Overdose awareness event held in Whitehorse

Tuesday, 31 August 2021 14:01

By Dylan MacNeil

People gather to mark International Overdose Awareness Day.

Overdose deaths are preventable says Blood Ties Executive Director Brontë Renwick-Shields

Today is International Overdose Awareness Day, and to mark the occasion Blood Ties Four Directions and other organizations gathered in LePage Park in Whitehorse to shine a light on the ongoing opioid crisis.

“It’s a day where we really come together to remember those we have lost to overdose, as well as a call to action to end overdose, which is a preventable death,” says Blood Ties Executive Director Brontë Renwick-Shields.

Attendees learned how to spot and respond to an overdose. As well, Sarah Haalboom, a rural partnership coordinator with blood ties, taught people how to administer the opioid reversing drug, naloxone.

The public also got a chance to look at the Blood Ties Four Directions outreach van. The van carries harm reduction supplies and has a nurse onboard twice a week that can help those in need.

Shae-Lynn Boyko is the outreach van coordinator, they say through spreading awareness, they hope to put a stop to overdoses.

“We want to really try to reach out to the general public. A lot of the time with events, we do just get a lot of the people who all ready know about what our organizations do, but if we can reach out further, and even doing the naloxone training and providing that education, that’ll best support people to do their part to mitigate and hopefully eventually end the opioid crisis and save lives,” says Boyko.

The Yukon Coroner’s Service is reporting that as of today, 14 people in the territory have lost their lives due to illicit drug use since January first. That’s a 40 percent increase from last year, which saw 10 deaths in total.

According to a press release, 47 Yukoners have died from opioids since 2016 and 83 percent of those overdoses have involved fentanyl. Another 10 people died in the same time frame from other drugs.

Renwick-Shields says most overdoses happen to people using alone. They say one of the best ways to end the opioid crisis, it to talk about it, support one another, and end stigmas.

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