McGill student to offer free naloxone kit training workshops

This week and next, free workshops are being held at McGill University to show people how to use naloxone, the opioid overdose antidote which is available for free at Quebec pharmacies without a prescription.

Richard Davy, a first-year McGillsocial work student, is running the workshops this week and next.

According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, there were 181 opioid-related deaths in Quebec last year, and that's a number Davy would like to see reduced.

He told CBC Montreal's Daybreak Monday he gotthe ideaafter doing outreach work in the city andseeing first-hand how serious the problem is in Montreal.

"We noticed that there was definitely an issue with people overusing opioids," he said.

After learning more about naloxoneand how to administer the life-saving drug, he decidedeverybody should have such training.

At the workshops, Davy will discussthe opioid crisis in Montreal and across Canada and teach people how to use the kits properly.

For someone without medical training, the kit can be intimidating, he said, as it involves an intramuscular injection of the antidote.

"But the training is relatively simple," he said. "I think a lot of it is understanding what it does and the impact it can have on someone's life."

Davy said in each kit, there are two retractable syringes, two vials of naloxone, gloves, alcohol pads, instructions and mouth guards for delivering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. The drug will not hurt someone who is not overdosing, he noted.

• Life-saving drug for opioid overdoses to be offered for free in Quebec pharmacies

When someone appears unconscious from anopioid overdose, he said the first step is to stimulate the person, to see if they're awake.

If the victim isunresponsive, the next steps are to open the airway, ventilate and medicate. Administering naloxone, involves loading the syringe with the drugand injecting it into a muscular area at a 90-degree angle.

Anyone over the age 14 can request a kit at a pharmacy.

"Theyshould be part of our first aid kits with the amount ofopioidprescriptions these days," said Davy.

The first workshop, which is open to anybody and free, is being held at noon Wednesday in the Wendy Patrick Room at the McGillSchool of Social Work, 3506 University Street.

A second workshopis scheduled for Nov. 16 at 1:30 p.m.Participants will leave with a free naloxone kit.

More information about the Naloxone & Overdose Response Training for Non-Medical Professionals workshops can be found on the followingFacebook page.

- With files from CBC Montreal's Daybreak