The City is ramping up its fight against opioids, now that festival season is underway.
Mayor Jim Watson announced the expansion of a public campaign on overdose prevention Wednesday morning.
The mayor says the City has done extraordinary work so far - from its task force focusing on outreach and prevention to pharmacies that have distributed more than 4,000 naloxone kits. All Ottawa firefighters have recently been trained in the use of naloxone as well, and will carry the kids on board their trucks.
But Watson says this is the new normal, and there is more to be done, including a public awareness campaign to reach people online.
“It’s really trying to go and use social media to get the message out, that using these kinds of drugs can be very harmful to your health and, in fact, can kill you,” Watson said.
Ottawa Public Health will also be working with summer festivals to distribute party safe information.
“We have a festival that’s coming to Lansdowne Park,” Watson said. “We’re going to have extra resources on site to prevent overdoses, but also to treat them, if they do in fact occur.
“We have to vigilant. We have to be aware of the fact that this is a problem that’s not going to be resolved in a week or two, or even a year,” Watson said.
This week it was announced the public health unit will receive $350 thousand dollars from the Province for opioid response programs.