OPH launches 'Party Safer' online course in time for festival season

Ottawa Public Health (OPH) has launched a new online course on its Party Safer web page that dispenses guidance on how to tell if someone is suffering from a drug overdose — and what to do about it.

The new course takes around 30 minutes to complete and is designed to prepare people to respond to poisonings and overdoses from a range of common recreational drugs.

"We're heading into the event and festival season and want to make sure that everybody is prepared if they are choosing to go to these events and might be using these substances," said Megan Francoeur, a public health nurse who works with the OPH's addictions and substance use health team.

Opioid-related deaths among Ontario teens and young adults tripled between 2014 and 2021, according to recent research from the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network in Toronto.

From January to March this year, emergency room visits due to opioid overdoses in Ottawa reached between 82 and 88 per month. In April, that number jumped to 101. In May, it reached 117.

Francoeur said the new course, which she helped develop, addresses rising rates of opioid overdoses alongside other current drug-use trends.

Stimulants such as benzodiazepines are also being mixed and cut into unregulated drugs, she said, and awareness around those and other substances is covered in the course.

Mental health toll of overdose response

As a nurse, Francoeur has administered naloxone in response to opioid overdoses several times.

She said the experience can take a mental toll.

"It might not be right away, but sometimes weeks, months later, you can feel the effects on your mental health," she said.

As a result, a key part of the course covers how to "take care of yourself" afterward, she said. It offers advice on  connecting and debriefing with family and friends.

Naloxone is available in pharmacies across Ottawa, Francoeur added.

She directed anyone seeking information on how to find a naloxone kit to OPH's webpage.