Windsor-county task force releases proposed opioid plan
The Windsor area should provide more naloxone overdose-treatment kits, share drug data better and pay more attention to nearmiss overdoses in order to better deal with the local opioid crisis, says the local medical officer of health.
“The most important thing is that opioid-related deaths are preventable,” Dr. Wajid Ahmed, the local acting medical officer of health, said Wednesday. “So we want to prevent as many deaths as we can.”
Ahmed, speaking at a media conference to launch the proposed Windsor-Essex Community Opioid Strategy, which now enters the public consultation phase, called opioid misuse a complex problem requiring a team approach from many agencies.
There were 37 opioid-related deaths in Windsor and Essex County in 2016, up from 24 deaths in 2015.
The total rate of opioid users in Windsor and Essex County is 18.9 per cent higher than the provincial average.
In the last three months alone, the AIDS Committee of Windsor has handed out about 300 naloxone kits, more than 40 of which have already been used successfully.
Though opioid use is spread across the city and the county, the two greatest concentrations of misuse occur in downtown Windsor and in Leamington.
“To sum it up, it’s pretty bad,” Ahmed said. “We have all the indicators: the emergency department visits, hospitalization data, the number of opioid-related deaths — all are above the provincial average.”
Ahmed and Essex-Windsor EMS chief Bruce Krauter, along with other members of the local opioid task force, such as local board of health chair Gary McNamara, provided details of the plan.
“It’s a front-line issue,” Krauter said.
“It’s increasing everyday, not only for EMS but for our law enforcement and our fire services that do medical calls.”
According to the health unit’s website, the strategy, which will involve greater collaboration and data sharing between relevant agencies, seeks to “reduce the burden of opioid related social and health issues in our community.”
If implemented, the eight-point action plan will:
Monitor drug overdoses and share data better; increase public awareness; educate patients and providers better; improve overdose prevention and services; increase access to naloxone; develop
a local harm-reduction framework; increase treatment options and access to service; collaborate more with all first responders.
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens noted that the perception among some people that opioid misuse is confined to a certain type of person is wrong.
He said the opioid problem hurts the whole community and therefore requires greater general awareness of the issue.
Essex County Warden Tom Bain summed up the sentiment among task force members best, when he stressed the need for more action: “We’ve got lives out there we’ve got to save.”