“Everyone should have naloxone on them or at home”: a street worker wants to democratize this antidote to opioids and train the population to prevent unnecessary deaths

In Montreal, journalist Louis-Philippe Messier travels mostly on the run, his desk in his backpack, on the lookout for fascinating subjects and people. He speaks to everyone and is interested in all walks of life in this urban chronicle.

A grandmother loses her memory and takes her painkiller tablets several times… A teenager consumes an impure drug and stops breathing… An inert stranger on the sidewalk has blue lips… There is a large number of possible opioid overdose scenarios. Have you ever thought about getting naloxone at the pharmacy?

If you have a loved one at risk, this would be a good idea.

“It’s time for everyone in the world to learn how to use naloxone, because overdoses don’t just happen in back alleys!” exclaims Émilie Roberge, local services coordinator at Specter de rue, a community organization in the Centre-Sud.

“It’s true that there are more frequent overdoses among regular drug users who live on the streets, but these people already look out for each other,” continues this former street worker who began patrolling in the Saint-Louis square at the age of 21.

“They are notified, they have a kit, they call 911 or come see us if someone is not going to a park near here.”

Democratizing naloxone

Once reserved for the use of doctors and paramedics, naloxone has proven so useful and so easy to use that, since 2017, any Quebec citizen over the age of 14 can request it for free at the pharmacy.

M^me Roberge and his organization offer training to democratize naloxone.

I went to follow one and… it’s easy as pie to administer!

The training is mainly used for psychological preparation purposes.

“Seeing an overdose, a person who is no longer breathing, it’s extremely stressful!” comments Marjo, a peer helper from Specter de rue who supports drug users and who has witnessed this tragedy several times.

“Practicing how to administer naloxone helps you prepare for what’s to come.”

For my training, Émilie Roberge goes to get an expired nasal vial and pod (so as not to waste the still good antidote).

She rubs the vial on the table to knock out the liquid stuck in the cap before breaking it.

“After sucking up the liquid and removing the air, we prick and inject into the muscle of the thigh or arm,” she explains.

I handle a syringe for the first time, clumsily.

In an emergency situation, I would be more comfortable with the archinian nasal pod device to use.

“Be careful, it comes out suddenly!” warns my trainer.

The pod piston resists finger pressure and suddenly gives way.

A small atomic cloud of naloxone instantly forms in the air above.

“In the nose, it is absorbed by the mucous membranes,” M assures me^me Roberge.

These pods weigh nothing and cost nothing.

From now on, I will always carry some in my backpack. And you might also want to keep some on you just in case.