St. John Ambulance offering free response training amid worsening opioid death crisis

St. John Ambulance is hoping a free course on how to respond to an opioid poisoning will help bring down the number of opioid-related deaths in Alberta and other parts of the country. 

Alberta has one of the highest rates of opioid-related deaths in Canada, according to data from the Public Health Agency of Canada. Its reports show that last year, 7,328 people across Canada died from an opioid overdose, and 1,499 of those deaths were in Alberta.

The reports also show a significant increase in opioid overdoses across the country since 2016, especially in the years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Before the pandemic, the average number of opioid deaths per day across Canada was 10. By last year, that number had doubled. 

There is a "growing need for education and resources around this crisis," said Claire Kingston, the community engagement manager at St. John Ambulance, a charitable organization that teaches first aid. 

Funded by Health Canada through its substance use and addiction program, the course will run until March 2024. It covers how to administer nasal naloxone, self-care after a traumatic event and reducing stigma around addiction.

"Regardless of the outcome, whether the reversal is successful or not, that can be a really traumatic experience. We want people to take this training, go back and encourage conversations. Talk about harm reduction," said Kingston.

"We want to talk to people a little bit about [opioid poisoning]. Give them the tools so that they're prepared when the time comes." 

The course is available in all provinces except Quebec, which runs an independent program. Available online or in person, the training is conducted live by a facilitator. Successful participants will receive free nasal naloxone.

People can register at reactandreverse.ca or by email at oprt@sja.ca. 

Karley Danilkewich, a team lead at Calgary Alternative Support Services (CASS), an organization that helps vulnerable populations, said the situation is being made worse as the drugs for sale on the streets get stronger and are increasingly laced with other substances.

"They're mixing opioids with benzodiazepines," she said. 

When this happens, it limits the efficiency of naloxone, a life-saving medicine that rapidly reverses the effects of opioids on the brain. 

"Your system will respond to the naloxone, but it's still gonna be depressed because you still have the benzos in your system," she added.

Danilkewich, who has worked with CASS for seven years, is fortunate to have been successful with people she's administered naloxone to. 

But she said that's not the experience of everyone in the field.

"I know that mine is very few and far between," she said. 

Danilkewich said most of the people she helps have had awful experiences. 

"They use drugs as a means to, you know, escape those things and not have to think about that," she said. 

Through the St. John Ambulance training, she learned the value of using the right language and terminology when addressing her clients.

She added that there's nothing to lose and everything to gain by taking the free opioid response classes. 

"I think maybe some people take for granted just how easy it can be to save a life."