{"id":1677,"date":"2019-10-09T09:06:26","date_gmt":"2019-10-09T09:06:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.origins.gallantavenuetest.com\/2019\/10\/09\/how-to-bring-the-season-into-your-marketing\/"},"modified":"2020-11-07T19:12:56","modified_gmt":"2020-11-07T19:12:56","slug":"sherri-tawfik-mission-preventing-deaths-and-risks-of-opiod-addiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/originspharmacy.ca\/sherri-tawfik-mission-preventing-deaths-and-risks-of-opiod-addiction\/","title":{"rendered":"Sherri Tawfik’s Mission to Prevent Deaths and Risks by Educating Community for Opioid Addiction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Arming everyday heroes in the fight against fentanyl deaths in Durham<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Getting The Antidote To Opioids Out Into The Community<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Jul 27, 2017<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OSHAWA \u2014 Sherri Tawfik Facilitated A Training Session Hosted By The Canadian Mental Health Association Durham On Narcan, A Prescription Medication That Blocks The Effects Of Opiods And Reverses Overdose. Durham Is Gearing Up To Fight Fentanyl Deaths As Part Of A Public Health Program To Get The Antidote To Fentanyl Out Into The Community At No Cost To Residents. The Canadian Mental Health Association Durham Is Training Staff To Use The Fentanyl Antidote And Also Working To Get It Out In The Community Where The Drugs Are Being Used. \u2013 Jason Liebregts \/ Metroland<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

DURHAM \u2014 An amateur with the right tools and little bit of training could save a life in the ongoing battle against fentanyl deaths in Durham. That\u2019s the mindset behind the public health program to get the antidote to fentanyl out into the community at no cost to residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith fentanyl, only a tiny, tiny amount of it is enough to cause an overdose and it\u2019s not always detectable,\u201d said Sherri Tawfik, pharmacist owner of Total Health Pharmacy who was at the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Durham office on Wednesday, July 19 to train front line staff on how to use the life-saving antidote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fentanyl is typically prescribed for chronic pain management. It\u2019s an opioid, along with heroin, morphine and oxycodon. However, fentanyl is much more potent than other prescription opiates \u2014 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. It is being used for recreational highs and sometimes drug traffickers use fentanyl to dilute other street drugs such as heroin and cocaine \u2014 in some cases users are ingesting fentanyl unwittingly. The drug has been responsible for a number of overdoses in Durham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opioid use and deaths due to overdose represent a public health crisis in Ontario, explained Stephanie Skopyk, clinic lead and nurse practitioner at the CMHA Durham Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic. She added that conservative estimates indicate someone dies from opioid overdose every 14 hours in Ontario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNumbers are difficult to track, but last year in Durham Region, local emergency departments saw nearly 100 opioid overdose cases and Ontario estimates over 590 deaths in 2016, exceeding the number of deaths caused by motor vehicle accidents,\u201d said Skopyk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She added there is a high rate of concurrent mental health issues and addictions, estimated at a minimum of 75 per cent. Individuals with mental illness often self-administer substances to treat symptoms of their illness and begin doing so early on with alcohol, tobacco and cannabis for example, explained Skopyk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CMHA Durham is training staff to use the fentanyl antidote and also working to get it out in the community where the drugs are being used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHere at the Canadian Mental Health Association, we work with individuals at risk for opioid overdose but also who may be in situations where they can save someone else\u2019s life by recognizing the signs of overdose and initiate emergency treatment,\u201d said Skopyk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The antidote to fentanyl \u2014 or other opioids \u2014 is naloxone. The life-saving drug temporarily blocks the receptors in the brain that bond with opioids. So the dangerous drug is still in the system but isn\u2019t doing harm while the antidote is blocking the path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naloxone has been available for years, but only as a prescription medicine. That all changed in March 2016, when Health Canada changed the prescription status of naloxone to increase public access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ontario government made naloxone available in pharmacies without a prescription and at no cost to help reduce opioid overdoses. Anyone \u2014 a person at risk of an overdose, their concerned family, friends or another person with a health card willing to give their address \u2014 can get a naloxone kit and will not have to pay. The pharmacists provide training on how to safely administer the antidote during an overdose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does a fentanyl overdose look like? Tawfik described opioid overdoses as a total slowing down of a person\u2019s system:<\/p>\n\n\n\n