Naloxone Saves Lives

Take Home Naloxone Program (THN)

The THN program was started in 2012 to provide life-saving training and kits to people at risk of experiencing or witnessing an opioid overdose. There are now over 1800 sites participating across British Columbia. To find out more about the program and how to bring it into your community, see the Take-Home Naloxone page on Toward the Heart.

Facility Overdose Response Box Program (FORB)

The FORB program provides overdose response boxes containing the opioid antidote naloxone for employees at non-profit and community-based organizations. Learn more and become a site by visiting the Facility Overdose Response Box page on Towards the Heart. 

Training & Resources

Toward the Heart provides a variety of overdose prevention, recognition and response materials. The materials educate people on how to use naloxone. This includes teaching materials, instructional videos, posters, guides and infographics. Find all the resources on the Naloxone Training & Resources page on Towards the Heart. Training resources are also available for direct ordering by registered THN sites.  

Contact us by emailing: naloxone@bccdc.ca

Safer Sex & Safer Substance Use

Harm reduction offers tools to help reduce harms associated with sex and with substance use. 

Learn more at TowardtheHeart.com.

Access Supplies

The Provincial Harm Reduction Supply Distribution Program coordinates access to safer sex and safer substance use supplies across BC.

To find a site and access supplies near you, use the site finder. 

Harm Reduction supplies available include:

• Naloxone Kits
  
• Safer Sex Supplies
  
• Lubricant
  
• External condoms
  
• Internal condom
  
• Safer Substance Use Supplies
  
• Needles and syringes
  
• Sterile water
  
• Acidifer (vitamin c)
  
• Alcohol swabs
  
• Sharps containers
  
• Cookers
  
• Tourniquets
  
• Safer Smoking Supplies
  
• Crack and meth pipes
• Crack and meth pipe mouthpieces
  
• Crack pipe screens
  
• Crack pipe push sticks 
  
• Foils

Peer Workers are people with lived/living experience of substance use. They use that experience to inform their professional work. They are also known as Experiential Workers.

Engagement of peer workers is recognized nationally and provincially as best practice in harm reduction. Peer workers are at the forefront of harm reduction and overdose response initiatives in BC. 

Peer worker engagement uses a community-based approach to decision making. Engaging community in the process is far more likely to lead to effective and acceptable service delivery. Peer worker engagement can address the equity of harm reduction services and interventions. It fosters communication, builds trust, increases knowledge and reduces stigma and discrimination which ultimately reduces barriers and increases use of services.

Peer2Peer Project (P2P)

The Peer-2-Peer project aims to identify, implement, and evaluate peer-led support interventions for peers/ experiential workers in overdose response settings.

Visit Toward the Heart's Peer2Peer page for project background, the ROSE model and best practice manual, COVID-19 support tools and the compassionate action campaign series.

Compassion, Inclusion & Engagement (CIE)

CIE facilitates community based dialogues across BC that provide opportunities to build capacity and develop networks across and within health services and community agencies to foster and promote accessible, inclusive and culturally safe harm reduction services through ongoing peer engagement. Visit Toward the Heart's CIE page for project description and reports.

Professionals for Ethical Engagement of Peers (PEEP) Consultation & Advisory Board

PEEP's goal is to inform and enhance peer engagement with best practice recommendations so service providers BC-wide can work with peers in their communities to better meet local needs. This board builds on existing peer relationships and explores new ways for more meaningful, ongoing dialogue with service providers and community partners. 

Visit the Harm Reduction Program Reports page for PEEP resources, including publications and best practice guidelines.

Visit Toward the Heart to learn more about the PEEP program. 

Note: PEEP began as the Peer Engagement & Evaluation Project, an innovative initiative to ensure everyone across the province has access to harm reduction services. 

The Provincial Overdose Cohort was created to better understand the factors that lead to overdose and overdose death and to help inform programming for people who use drugs in British Columbia. 

The Cohort is a public health resource that consists of de-identified data on persons who have experienced an illicit drug-related overdose in B.C. It is available to health authorities and other partnering organizations to generate statistical analyses that support evidence-based decision making. 

The Cohort was created following the declaration of the public health emergency in 2016 as part of the provincial overdose emergency response strategy. The purpose of the Cohort is to better understand the program and service needs of people who use drugs. 

The Cohort includes data on overdose events, prescription medications, social assistance programs, mental health service utilization, and overall healthcare use for persons who experienced an overdose from January, 1 2015 to December 31, 2018. 

For more detailed information on the Cohort, its data sources and how it is used, visit the Provincial Overdose Cohort Project page. 

Overdose Prevention Services

Overdose prevention services are lower-barrier services under special Ministerial Order (Ministerial Order M488) under the Emergency Services Act to prevent overdose deaths in health and/or social service settings. 

Episodic Overdose Prevention Service (e-OPS) Protocol

To prevent overdose deaths, episodic overdose prevention services (e-OPS) allow providers to observe substance use anywhere and anytime. E-OPS supports health and social service providers, including peer or experiential workers to observe substance use wherever overdoses may occur - not only at a fixed site with an address like an SCS or OPS.

Overdose Resource: Episodic Overdose Prevention Service

Since 2012 the BCCDC Harm Reduction Services program has surveyed clients of harm reduction supply distribution sites across BC. BC has an established network of more than 350 harm reduction distribution sites. 

Prior to 2012, knowledge about high-risk drug use was based primarily on data from two major cities, Vancouver and Victoria. The Harm Reduction Client Survey was introduced to obtain more comprehensive and province-wide information about drug use, related harms, stigma, and access to harm reduction services.

Data from the survey is used to inform harm reduction planning, confirm emerging issues, and to evaluate and improve quality of harm reduction services. 

Findings and knowledge summaries for each year the survey was administered are published on the Harm Reduction Client Survey page.  

BCCDC, Providence Health Care, and Health Canada are piloting an intervention program that will provide low-barrier access to a safer, predictable supply of oral hydromorphone for people at risk of overdose. 

This program will complement currently available services. It will help create a bridge to treatment by enabling people at high risk of overdose to come out of isolation and access other harm reduction services.

Results from the evaluation will be published here when available.

BC health authorities are all working on overdose response.

First Nations Health Authority

Overdose Prevention Information for First Nations

Fraser Health Authority

Overdose Prevention and Response

Interior Health Authority

Public Health Overdose Emergency

Northern Health Authority

Overdose Prevention

Vancouver Coastal Health Authority

Overdose Prevention & Response 

Vancouver Island Health Authority

Overdose Prevention

To find a site and access supplies near you, use the site finder on Toward the Heart. 

Harm Reduction supplies available include:

• Naloxone Kits
  
• Safer Sex Supplies
  
• Lubricant
  
• External condoms
  
• Internal condom
  
• Safer Substance Use Supplies
  
• Needles and syringes
• Sterile water
• Acidifer (vitamin c)
• Alcohol swabs
• Sharps containers
• Cookers
• Tourniquets
• Safer Smoking Supplies
  
• Crack and meth pipes
• Crack and meth pipe mouthpieces
  
• Crack pipe screens
• Crack pipe push sticks 
  
• Foils

Overdose Prevention Sites are locations where people can use drugs under supervision by trained staff who can provide emergency response services if necessary.

To find a location, use the site finder on Toward the Heart and search Overdose Prevention Site.

SITE FINDER  

Communicating drug alerts

Tips for informing people who use drugs about adverse drug events

‎Care must be taken when advising people who use substance about adulterants or changes in potency of street drugs. The following recommendations stem from discussions with people who use substances and health service providers.

Communicating Drug Alerts Guideline Document (Nov 2016)  

‎

Safer Tablet Injecting 

A resource for anyone who is injecting tablet medications (pills) and would like to do so more safely. 

English version l  French version

How to Filter Tablet Medications for Injecting 

View the Videos

Safer Injecting Brochure

Prepared by the Needle Exchange Program and Vancuver Coastal Health.

Safer Smoking Supplies 

Two page information sheet

Safer Smoking Brochure

Prepared by the Needle Exchange Program and Vancuver Coastal Health.

SmartSexResource is a provincial sexual health website, offering comprehensive information, education and resources on sexually transmitted infections, trends and more. 

Toward the Heart is the BCCDC's main harm reduction website. 

The website features various supports including; 

• Registered Sites Support: Materials for harm reduction, take-home naloxone and facility overdose response sites registered in one of our programs, as well as how to become a registered site.
  
• Health Professional Resources: Information sheets, best practice, policies and procedures, guidelines and recommendations, and reports and research
  
• Staff Area: Secure area for members of the Drug Overdose & Alert Partnership (DOAP), Harm Reduction Strategies &  Services (HRSS)  and Peer Engagement & Evaluation Project (PEEP) committees.
  

           

Naloxone Administration Training

This online lesson will provide a brief overview of how to respond in the event of a witnessed or suspected overdose.

This Naloxone Administration course is housed on the PHSA LearningHub. Create a new account or log into your existing account and search for "BCCDC - Naloxone Administration" to proceed with the course.

Course Details

The Naloxone Administration course is an open enrolment, self-paced course.  It takes approximately 25 minutes to complete and provides a completion certificate upon completion.

Audience

The Naloxone Administration course was developed to prepare all people with the tools needed to respond to opioid overdoses.

Course Content

This lesson outlines how to recognize the common signs and symptoms of an opioid overdose and guides participants through life-saving skills in identifying what to do if you witness or suspect an opioid overdose. 

The lesson reviews common opioids, overdose characteristics, naloxone and how it works, how to use the contents found in a naloxone kit, the SAVEME steps and aftercare.  It also provides information about where people can get naloxone and other harm reduction supplies.

Additional Naloxone Training & Resources

More resources can be found on www.towardtheheart.com/naloxone-training. 

Respectful, non-stigmatizing language is recommended when describing substance use, substance use disorders (sometimes called 'addiction') and people who use drugs 

Whether it is used in a healthcare setting or in the news media, negative and stigmatizing language discredits people who use drugs and can result in discrimination. Stigmatization contributes to isolation and means people will be less likely to access services. This has a direct, detrimental impact on the health of people who use drugs.

Reduce Stigma - Change the conversation about substance use and overdose

Use people-first language. This means referring to a person before describing his or her behaviour or condition. This is important because it acknowledges that a person's condition, illness or behaviour is not that person's defining characteristic.  "Person with a cocaine-use disorder" instead of "cocaine user" or "addict."

Use language that reflects the medical nature of substance use disorders. There are a multitude of factors contributing to drug addiction, ranging from personal factors to social, environmental and political ones. Avoid terms that reinforce a belief that addiction is a failure of morals or personality, rather than a medical issue.  "Addictive disease" and "substance use disorder" instead of "abuser" or "junkie."

Use language that promotes recovery. This means healthcare professionals should use language that conveys optimism and supports recovery, and respects the person's autonomy.  "Opted not to" and "not in agreement with the treatment plan" instead of "unmotivated" or "non-compliant."

Avoid slang and idioms. Slang terms and idioms have negative connotations and a significant level of stigma attached to them. While slang and idioms are rarely used in professional literature, they are also important to avoid when speaking to other colleagues or healthcare professionals.  "Positive" or "negative" when referring to drug tests, instead of "dirty" or "clean."

Resources

Respectful Language & Stigma: Reguarding People Who Use Substances (Mar 2017)

Language Matters Infographic (Dec 2017)

The Compassionate Action modules are a series of interactive case study videos about stigma and discrimination experienced by People Who Use Drugs (PWUD) and an accompanying reflection/discussion guide.

The videos are based on real life experiences of PWUD, and build on the Compassionate Engagement Modules. 

The modules are designed to engage PWUD and the people who provide services to them, such as health care and frontline service providers, first responders, and organizational managers. Recognizing that many service providers have lived or living experience of substance use, the modules can be adapted to meet local needs and situations. The modules are intended to bring PWUD and other providers together to encourage collaboration and mutual respect.

Hierarchies of Perceived Acceptable Substances and Modes of Ingestion

> Module 1

Key Message: Don’t judge those who use substances. Acknowledge your privilege. Be compassionate.

People Who Use Drugs & Employment

> Module 2

Key Message: You don't always know the whole story. Be compassionate.

Learn More

• Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Research Project & Resources on towardtheheart.com
• Government of Canada
• Pivot Legal Society (search for "Good Samaritan").

Resources

Good Samaritan Act Poster

Good Samaritan Act Wallet Card 

The federal government approved an exemption to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to allow for the removal of criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of some illicit substances for personal use by people over 18 years old within British Columbia. This exemption is effective starting January 31, 2023 until January 31, 2026. The purpose of the exemption is to reduce the stigma associated with substance use and support people in accessing important health and social services. Since decriminalization came into effect in BC, some local governments have expressed interest in understanding the potential impacts of decriminalization on public substance use as they consider the needs of their communities.

• Learn more: Information and frequently asked questions about decriminalization‎
  

For harm reduction reports, publications, case studies and program resources and evaluations, visit the Harm Reduction Reports page.