Take-home Naloxone Kits available at Grand River Hospital

Grand River Hospital and Waterloo Crime Prevention Council have partnered to bring free Naloxone kits to patients.

Naloxone counter-acts the effects of opioid drugs, including fentanyl, heroin, codeine and methadone.

Emergency department patients that are at risk of an opioid overdose will have access to the kit, which contains two doses of naloxone, syringes, gloves, a rescue breathing mask and instructions.

Michael Parkinson, from Waterloo Crime Prevention Council, says, “we know that some groups of people are more at risk than others, and those would include people that are using higher doses of opioids exactly as prescribed by their physician, it could include persons who are accessing opioids from the black market.”

Opioid overdoses continue to be the third leading cause of acute death in Ontario, with 700 people in Waterloo Region being seen in emergency departments annually because of drug overdoses.

Parkinson says, “all indications are that bootleg fentanyl’s will continue to drive overdose rates up to record levels in Ontario, across Canada, across North America. Many expect it will get much worse before it gets better.”

Select pharmacies in the community, Region of Waterloo Public Health and the Sanguen Health Centre offer Naloxone kits.

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