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Peer 2

Administered

Naloxone REVIEWING THE

Training EFFE CTIVENESS OF

VICT ORIAN

GO VERNMENT
INVESTMENT INT O
ILLICIT DR UG
SUPPLY REDUCTION,
“ E RIN ” TALK S ABOUT DO IN G HRVI C ’ S DEMAND REDUCTION
AND
PE E R OVE RDOS E TR AININ G HARM REDUCTION

H OW M A N Y O F YO U R what I mean. I had done a basic first STRATE GIES AND
FR IE ND S H AVE FATALLY aid certificate at high school but when PR OGRAMS;
OVE R D O S E D? he dropped I guess I just didn’t put
those skills together with an overdose.
“ I STOPPE D CO UNTI NG A friend told me about this course
AT 8 , A N D TH E Y WE R E that HRVic was running. I chose to
A LL C LO S E FR I E N DS . tell Jane [the trainer] my story. It was
ok to tell her because she identified
herself as a peer, or I don’t know, she
They have been needless and senseless was cool, she was as a safe person to
deaths and completely 100% prevent- talk to, someone who understood and
able …all heroin overdoses are pre- could offer support.
ventable. Naloxone reverses overdose Peer
– it’s as simple as that. A trial was talk- Since doing the [HRVic] training I
ed about over 10 years ago - it has been understand more how the body works
on the table and it has taken until now and what an overdose is and it’s the re- Administered
and in that time a lot of people have striction – the depression of the cen-
died…overdosed and it’s a tragedy that tral nervous system that affects the re-
it has taken this amount of time for spiratory system so the primary goal is Naloxone
the project (and others [harm reduc- to keep air flowing in the person. Al-
tion] like this) to be given the green- though naloxone is the most effective
light. means of reversing an opioid overdose
if I don’t have it on me I now know the Training
My friend who I often use with necessary first aid steps to keep myself
dropped and I didn’t know what to do, and the person that’s overdosed safe. I
I was very scared ‘cause he was blue know how to check and clear their air-
and looked like he was dead, you know ways and how to do rescue breathing

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WHACK35_LYOT.indd 33 11-Oct-16 4:25:24 PM