Social agencies provide Naloxone training in Kamloops

Dec 19, 2016 | 4:00 PM

KAMLOOPS — Nine months into the public health emergency prompted by illicit drug overdose deaths the province is still in the grips of the opioid crisis. 

Now, social agencies are working to educate the public on overdose prevention. 

Ask Wellness and Karmik teamed up to provide hour-long Naloxone training sessions to the general public in Kamloops Saturday.

Brittany Gill helped organize the event. She says leaving life-saving up to emergency responders just doesn’t cut it anymore. 

“They take time to get where they need to be and they’ve got all these cases coming up so fast,” Gill said. “It’s really important that we get trained and that we have the supplies, and the knowledge, and just the awareness that we can do something if need be.” 

Participants in the training were taught how to identify an overdose and how to administer the overdose-reversing drug Naloxone.