FNHA supports First Nations to stop overdose deaths with Take Home Naloxone kits

9/9/2016

FNHA works to make lifesaving Naloxone kits available to BC First Nations community members

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Cindy Preston, Health Benefits Pharmacist Lead, displays the Take Home Naloxone kit, which is available for free at all harm reduction sites in BC.

BC has declared a public health emergency in response to an increase in overdose deaths. Fentanyl – a powerful painkiller being passed off as oxycodone tablets and being mixed into other opioid drugs (e.g. heroin and cocaine) – is the deadly cause of this spike.

First Nations continue to be heavily impacted by the overdose crisis.

Lifesaving Naloxone kits
Naloxone is an injectable medicine that reverses drug overdoses caused by opioids. Opioids are medications that relieve pain. Examples of opioid medications include: morphine, oxycodone, and codeine. 

With Naloxone, we have the power to save lives. Hundreds of overdoses have been prevented since Naloxone kits became available as part of a BC public health program in 2014. Take Home Naloxone kits are available in provincial and First Nation harm reduction sites and pharmacies across BC. 

“Naloxone works against any opioid – that includes prescription drugs, such as fentanyl, morphine and oxycodone, and opioids sold on the street such as heroin,” says Cindy Preston, FNHA Health Benefits Pharmacist Lead. Cindy works behind the scenes to increase Naloxone kit availability for BC First Nations.

Partnering to make Naloxone available to BC First Nations

One of Cindy’s tasks has been to work with partners to improve access to Naloxone at BC pharmacies. FNHA Health Benefits fully covers the costs of Naloxone and supplies.

On June 1, 2016, FNHA’s Health Benefits’ program expanded coverage for pharmacists to provide Naloxone for FNHA clients without a prescription. Making Naloxone more readily available to people who are likely to experience or witness an overdose is vital to decreasing deaths.

Supporting BC Pharmacists – especially those serving First Nations clients – to make Naloxone available has been a big part of Cindy’s recent area of focus. Recently, Cindy worked with FNHA Nurse Specialist Isa Wolf to collaborate on a new Naloxone training video for pharmacists around BC. Watch the video here.

Supporting Naloxone dispensing in communities

First Nations communities can register with the BC Centre for Disease Control to become a Take Home Naloxone dispensing site. Enrollment in the program enables the Community Health Nurses to safely dispense Naloxone as well as train individuals and families. This is especially important for communities without easy access to a pharmacy.

“Our partner, the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC), runs the Towards the Heart Take Home Naloxone program,” explains Cindy. “We are working closely with them to make Naloxone available through health centres in BC First Nations communities.”
Last year, seven First Nations had registered to make Naloxone kits available. Over 25 new communities have come on board so far this year! 

Cindy continues to collaborate with BCCDC and with FNHA’s Nursing and Health Protection team to expand the take-home Naloxone program for First Nations. Cindy, along with Health Protection’s Janine Stevenson, has provided hands-on training for nurses, healthcare workers and community champions across BC. Connecting communities who join the Naloxone program with harm reduction, mental health and substance-use resources at regional health authorities is also key.

Community support is critical to the take-home Naloxone initiative. “In each community, there is a community member – a champion – stepping forward to support other community members who are using drugs,” says Janine Stevenson, FNHA Nurse Specialist in Harm Reduction.

Why join the Take Home Naloxone program?

Overdose deaths can be prevented – by all of us. We can save lives. 

“I served as an outreach nurse for many, many years. I’ve been out with people … I’ve seen them come back from overdose. And I can’t tell you how much that means to me, because they’re alive,” says Isa Wolfe.

For Cindy, it is a simple choice: “I took the Naloxone training. You should too. Let’s keep ourselves safe.”

To register your community as a Take Home Naloxone site or to get more information - click here.