One Woman’s Naloxone Training Mission
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2018/03/13
One woman is on a harm reduction crusade with naloxone kit training sessions. Abby Blackburn is helping the punk community in Edmonton to be informed and safer about the possibility for overdoses from opioids in the midst of the crisis throughout the province.
In a conversation with CBC Radio Active, Blackburn said, “I realized, after seeing statistics online and everything else, that it’s very far reaching… The fentanyl crisis is pretty intense, so I just wanted to reach out to absolutely everybody.”
The training sessions with Blackburn show how to use the naloxone kits. She has trained about 150 people to date and wants the people that she trains to never have to go through the traumatising experience of seeing a friend overdose in front of her.
Blackburn recalled, “The first time that I saw somebody overdose in front of me was one of my close friends, and I hadn’t even heard of naloxone.” The friend did live, but she recollects that it was a terrifying experience to witness an overdose of a loved one in front of her.
“This past January, when I had an event, I was told by someone that their life got saved by the naloxone training, so that was pretty rad,” Blackburn said, “It was affecting me on a personal level from the get-go, and I just wanted to continue helping people and saving people.”
The next event will be April 13, 2018, at the Aviary open to all ages. Her next event on April 13 at the Aviary is for all age groups.
References
CBC News. (2018, March 12). Edmonton woman wants to reach everybody with naloxone training. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/abby-blackburn-naloxone training-1.4573537.
St-Onge, J. (2018, March 9). Alberta commission recommends more overdose prevention sites across province. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-opioid overdose-commission-1.4570399.
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