Kamloops woman organizing naloxone training to help combat fentanyl crisis | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Kamloops woman organizing naloxone training to help combat fentanyl crisis

Brittany Gill is working to organize a naloxone training night for the general public in December to help combat the growing fentanyl crisis.

KAMLOOPS - A Kamloops woman is working with a Vancouver-based harm reduction organization to help teach people how to administer naloxone.

Brittany Gill is setting up an event to help combat overdoses caused by opioids, inspired by the recent fentanyl crisis. She’s working with Karmik Harm Reduction, a group from Vancouver which provides harm reduction services at music festivals and similar events.

“We’re trying to organize naloxone training in Kamloops for the general public,” she says. “We want to make this available to everyone so that people out there who are not even doing the drugs can still be out there and be prepared.”

Gill turned to Karmik because of the organization's work in the music scene, a group she wants to target because there aren’t set standards for concerts or shows regarding drug related issues.

There are local organizations training for people who want to know how to administer naloxone, like ASK Wellness, but she says they target users and not the wider community.

“They do the training as well, but not on a general, public scale,” she says. “You have to go in and identify as a user, which you can, but the general public isn’t going to do that.”

With the fentanyl crisis growing, Gill decided to try to find a way to help. She was partly inspired by a childhood friend who died last year.

“He passed away while he was working up in Alberta,” she says. “He was a working class citizen, he was making good money, he was coming home to see his family."

“We tend to say 'These are people who are homeless, they’re not doing anything for our society' but when you get down to it, these people are mothers and fathers and are children to mothers and fathers.”

Gill is already had interest from individuals, and spoken to local businesses in the music and entertainment industry that are looking to send employees for training.

The training will happen in two sessions in December. Most of the organizing is done, though Gill is still looking for a nurse practitioner to sign off on the naloxone.

Those interested in the training can contact Gill at paradimeessentials@gmail.com.

Find past stories on fentanyl crisis here.


To contact a reporter for this story, email Brendan Kergin or call 250-819-6089 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

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