Good Samaritans come face to face with 'scary world' of drug addiction

Trina Shields was relieved to see the young man breathing again as he got in the back of the ambulance Saturday night.

But she won't soon forget the blank look on his face as she performed CPR on him.

Shields was driving along Read Drive in Summerside when her passenger, Laurie Culleton, noticed a group of people in distress in the back of a car parked on the side of the road.

"I rolled the window down and I said, 'Are you guys OK?' And everything was silent. I think they might have been a bit scared. And I said, 'Do you need Narcan?' And then they all started screaming, 'Yes, yes, yes.'"

One of them, a young man, was having an overdose. 

Narcan, or naloxone, is medication that can reverse the effects of an overdose. Shields reached for the kit in her glove compartment and gave the man a dose. Then she performed CPR while Culleton called 911.

"When I was doing CPR, chest compressions, on this young fella, his eyes were rolling back in his head and so many things went through my mind," she said.

"I have two boys myself and I just kept thinking, 'This is somebody's child and possibly someone's father.'"

The Chief Public Health Office did confirm five reported overdoses on P.E.I. last weekend, including one in Summerside. Fentanyl, a highly potent opioid, is suspected in all the cases. The office issued an alert Monday warning of the drug's presence in the province. 

Shields hasn't heard an update on the man's condition, but says he's been on her mind. 

"I was pretty worked up so I just sat on the side of the road until I could get my bearings because I was shaking pretty bad and I didn't sleep well for a couple of days."

They're amazing ladies ... just amazing to actually stop.— Ian Simmons

The CPHO is encouraging people to consider picking up free naloxone kits in the case of an emergency. 

The kits are available at several spots on the Island, including Health P.E.I.'s needle exchange program locations and at the PEERS Alliance.

There is also training available on how use the kits.

Shields said she keeps a kit with her in the event that she sees the type of situation she saw on Saturday.

The drug problem on P.E.I. is serious, she added. The Saturday incident was the second overdose she'd witnessed in Summerside in a week. The other was in front of a convenience store.

"I think everyone should have one of these kits in their vehicle, in their home, because you just don't know," she said.

"You know, it's a scary world out there right now and you just don't know when you're going to have to use it."

Shields said she and Culleton did what anyone would have done if faced with a similar situation.

But Ian Simmons, who lives nearby and saw what was happening Saturday night, said if it the women hadn't stopped to help, it could have been a lot more serious.

"They're amazing ladies ... just amazing to actually stop. Most people don't stop today."