As opioid overdoses and poisonings were on the rise, Seamus Murphy wanted to make a difference for those in need and their loved ones.
He also had a personal interest in addressing the issue as his niece was an opiate addict.
In July 2020, the Cochrane District Emergency Medical Services (EMS) kicked off a program for paramedics to carry naloxone kits to distribute throughout the district.
Murphy, who is the EMS commander of quality assurance and professional development, is proud that the Timmins-area ambulance service is the first in the province to offer the program.
The EMS partners with the Porcupine Health Unit (PHU) for the program that allows paramedics to distribute a naloxone kit and provide education wherever they are: whether it's in a coffee shop or on the streets.
So far, naloxone kits have been mostly distributed at the scene of a call for service, Murphy said.
“I think because of COVID, people don’t want to approach anyone,” he said.
If a patient is in “dire need,” the crew doesn’t wait and transports the patient. The on-duty commander, if it’s in Timmins, will attend the scene as well. If a patient doesn’t need to be transported, they will stay back and provide kits to the patient, bystanders, family members and whoever wants a kit.
“There have been times when we pull into the ambulance garage at the hospital, we revive the patient. And most times, they don’t want to go in. They’ll walk away or run away, and we’ll yell at them, 'Hey, do you want a kit?’” Murphy said. “Sometimes, they accept. Sometimes, they don’t.”
Anywhere between 20 to 40 naloxone nasal spray kits are distributed per month, according to Murphy. Every ambulance is stocked with the kits and there are stickers on the vehicles’ back windows indicating the kits are available.
“We also have refill kits. What we’re seeing is there are multiple kits out there, they’re just out of the naloxone itself. So, we’re trying to do our part and at least refill the kits,” Murphy said.
Cochrane EMS paramedics receive between 25 to 40 opioid calls per month.
Since November 2020, there’s been one death on average per week, mostly in Timmins. Murphy said he hasn’t seen any deaths in the last two weeks, expressing hope it shows a different trend.
For Murphy, if a life can be saved, that's an indication of success.
“Quality assurance is all about numbers. But for us, if we save a life today, it can be a life changed for tomorrow," he said. "The kits aren’t just for people with the lived experience. It’s for the family members, friends, loved ones because we’re giving them a chance."
The program is a work in progress, Murphy said. With paramedics often seeing the same faces, there tends to be compassion fatigue and not all of the staff believed the initiative would work at first, Murphy noted.
“But if we can try and get into that mind-frame that, ‘Hey, we got this guy back today. There’s always hope for tomorrow,’” he said. “That to me was the only struggle that I had. And it wasn’t much of a struggle.”
The two-year wait that took to get approval from the Ministry of Health was the only problem, Murphy said.
Since the Cochrane EMS is using electronic patient care records (ePCR), a code was created to easily track how many kits are given out and to provide data to the health unit for monthly reports.
“It’s a system that works very well for quality assurance, tracking and data,” he said.
The problem with the pandemic is that drugs are tainted because of lack of supply and transport, Murphy said. He also encouraged people to use naloxone no matter what the overdose is.
Other base hospitals and services have contacted Murphy to see how the program came about. A similar initiative distributing naloxone kits during 911 calls has recently kicked off in the Timiskaming Health Unit.
“It wasn’t just me, it was a team effort,” Murphy said.
Murphy’s niece has come a long way and is doing well now, he said.
“I had a personal key in the game, so that’s why I think I kind of went a little above and beyond,” Murphy said.
He said they’ll continue running the program until the opiate crisis ends or even if the funding stops.
"We'll still do it. We'll find the funding," Murphy said.
With doctors Louisa Marion-Bellemare and Julie Samson, Murphy is also looking at a pilot project providing suboxone to those in need. With a lack of rehabilitation detox centres in the province and across Canada, suboxone would be the first step toward rehabilitation, Murphy said.
The role of naloxone isn’t the only solution to the opioid crisis with many other factors at play, said MacKenzie Ludgate, one of the three creators behind the Naloxone North app.
The other factors include providing safe access to the drugs and proper education, he explained.
Along with two other then-medical students at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) Jordan Law and Owen Montpellier, Ludgate developed a free and confidential app that ships a naloxone kit to any valid address in the province.
The initiative started as a class project.
The app, which is available in English, French and Oji-Cree, includes video and text instructions and a list of nearby pharmacies where naloxone kits are provided. The kits are shipped from Vaughan and delivered within several business days.
App users can request either injectable or intra-nasal naloxone kits.
“The main reason we started the app was because parts of Northern Ontario don’t have access to naloxone, so creating this app increases it,” Ludgate said. “Especially to rural and remote areas of Northern Ontario that don’t have a pharmacy nearby.”
Ludgate said they’re working on a report about the uptake of the app. There will also be an option to order a kit from the website and more languages available.
“All three of us agreed even if one life is saved for the use of this app, we would consider the app a success,” he said.
A list of where to get free naloxone kits is available here.
To connect with resources, ConnexOntario provides free, confidential and personalized responses 24/7 to people regarding mental health, addiction and problem gambling services in the province. It can be reached at 1-866-531-2600. Good2Talk offers confidential support for post-secondary students in Ontario and Nova Scotia. It can be reached by calling-1-866-925-5454 or text GOOD2TALKON (686868). Kids Help Phone is available 24/7 at 1-800-668-6868.
- This story was supported by a reporting bursary from Journalists for Human Rights and the Solutions Journalism Network and made possible by funding from the McConnell Foundation.