Penticton residents had an opportunity Wednesday evening to meet professionals in the trenches of the overdose crisis.
A town hall meeting was hosted by Pathways Addictions Resource Centre to tackle concerns of drug users, concerned family and friends and the community as a whole. It included a panel of professionals including Penticton's fire chief, a paramedic, doctors, pharmacists and counsellors.
Pathways agency director Daryl Meyers said the crisis, which only recently hit Penticton, has hit the addictions centre hard.
"Our intake last month was, we had 60 new clients coming to our centre, looking for service, which is double of what we normally have, so it's a huge impact."
The crisis has created worried family and friends of drug users, according to Meyers, something the the town hall meeting intended to address. It was also aimed at educating attendees on the crisis itself, fentanyl and tools like naloxone kits.
Leslie Lappalainen, a family physician who works in addictions, explained how to assess an opioid overdose, noting a general unresponsiveness is key. She told the room that a lack of response to knuckles rubbed along the sternum is a good indicator, because it would typically cause a great deal of discomfort.
Other signs include slow breathing – a breath or two per minute – very thin "pinpoint pupils", and a deep slumber, potentially with snoring.
Lappalainen and Interior Health regional harm reduction coordinator Kate Fish also demonstrated how to use a naloxone kit, adding that it's important to call 911 before anything.
"I kind of compare it to an EpiPen, it buys you time to get to the hospital for that definitive management," Lappalainen said. "This isn't the definitive treatment."
Penticton fire chief Larry Watkinson told the room that in addition to an increase in the volume of overdoses, the severity of those overdoses is startling.
"To an overdose where the person is still conscious and speaking to first responders to the point where we're seeing more frequently, now, where they're non-responsive and not reacting to any stimulus."
"That is a big trigger for us that there is a different type of drug that we're facing."
For more information about how to administer naloxone, visit a local pharmacy or contact the Living Positive Resource Centre at 778-753-5830.