City urging NYE partygoers to pick up overdose kits

Ottawahealth officials are urging partygoers who recreationally use drugsto carry naloxonekitswith them onNew Year's Eve to prevent fentanyl deaths.

Theinjectable antidote is available at pharmacies and can reversethe effects of an overdose.

• RCMP seize enough drugsin Orlans to kill 21,000

The warning comes two weeks after a major drug bust in Orlanswhere RCMP seized 19 grams of the deadly drugfuranylfentanyl enough to kill tens of thousands of people.

We don't want anyone to lose their lives.- Shad Qadri, chair of the OttawaBoard of Health

"Wedon't want anyone to lose their lives," said Coun. Shad Qadri, the chair of the OttawaBoard of Health.

Qadriposted online an open letter to residents warning them that fentanyl may be cut into drugs that people take on occasion at parties cocaine, MDMA, Percocet, and oxycontin.

"The smallest amount of this drug can kill you," he wrote. "The obvious way to avoid an overdose is to not consume these drugs but unfortunately the sad realization is that there will be consumption."

Getting over the stigma

For the past two years,fentanylhas been involved in moreoverdose deaths in Ottawa than any other drug, according to Ottawa Public Health. Of the approximately 50 Ottawa residents who died of an overdosein 2015,29 were due to opioidsand in 14 deathsfentanylwas involved.

"These deaths are preventable," said Rob Boyd, director of the OASIS program at Sandy Hill Community Health Centre."We want to make sure that we don't have some of these tragic stories starting our New Year in 2017."

Naloxone kits are small enough to tuck in your bag and bring to a party. They are also free.

Boyd said there shouldn't be any stigma attached to picking one up at Ottawa pharmacies. You don't have to reveal if you're the one planning to use drugs. The only rule is that you have to say you are going somewhere where people may be at risk of an overdose.

"We're hoping there's going to be asufficientnumber of kits that go out, that somebody in thevenue they are at is going tohavenaloxone," said Boyd.

He would eventually would like to see bars, hotels and other venues have these kits on-site in case of an emergency, just like defibrillators.

Paramedics gearing up

Paramedics are holding daily briefingsabout potential fentanyloverdoses as people ring in the New Year. The emergency responders have had to double their use of naloxone in 2016 due to the rise in fentanyl-related overdoses in the capital region.

And fear of more overdoses is heightened now that another drug 100 times more powerful than fentanyl may be in Ottawa.

Carfentanil, an elephant tranquillizer, was detected in drugs sold on the streets of Waterloo and Toronto earlier this month. J.P Trotter, who speaks for Ottawa Paramedics, saidfirst responders are being urged to wear masksin anticipation of this new drug.

• Ottawa paramedics warned to wear masks over fear of powerful new drug

"The biggest danger is that people don't know what they're taking," said Trottier. "They might consume what they thinkis theordinary amount of illegal drugs that they are used to taking. But the carfentanil just a few grains of it can kill you."

The city is also urging party goers not to use drugs alone andto call 911 immediately if they suspect someone has overdosed.