THE TIM HORTONS OTTAWA DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2024 DATES!
2024 EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION OPENS NOVEMBER 1, 12PM EST The Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Fest ...
Read more...There is no ignoring the rise of opioid, particularly Fentanyl, related overdoses in Ottawa (as well as across Canada and the United State and at festivals across the country every effort is put into preventing the existence of drugs to begin with. However, the truth is that drug use at festivals, all festivals, happens and it is naive to propose otherwise. For this reason it is important that festival goers and festival staff/volunteers have the resources and information to ensure the safety of those who do decide to use drugs either before or during their visit to the Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival.
Familiarize yourself with the following information to help ensure the well-being of all festival attendees:
The following information comes directly from Ottawa Public Health:
The Ottawa Overdose Prevention and Response Task Force (Task Force) is reminding residents to party safely while celebrating throughout the summer festival season. The Task Force advises that overdoses, whether from drugs, alcohol or a combination of both, are preventable. There is also an increased risk of alcohol and drug-facilitated sexual assaults at large events.
The Task Force reminds festival goers that counterfeit pills in Ottawa have tested positive for fentanyl, which is an opioid that is approximately 50-100 times stronger than morphine. Getting “street drugs” from a non-medical source such as a friend, ordering online, or from a drug dealer is very risky and potentially life-threatening. There is no way to know what is actually in them or how toxic they may be.
Ottawa sees over 30 accidental drug overdose deaths every year, and the number of emergency department visits related to accidental drug overdoses nearly doubled from 2009 to 2015. In Ottawa in 2016, there was an average of 22 emergency department visits per week for life-threatening drug overdoses. https://blogs.ottawa.ca/santeottawahealth/en/2017/06/12/dont-miss-out-because-you-are-onthenod/
To lower the risk of overdose and sexual assault, the Task Force is working with festival organizers, security companies and first aid providers, as well as providing festival goers with safe partying tips.
Festival goers who choose to use drugs should:
Festival goers should also be familiar with the signs of an opioid overdose, which include:
The Task Force is working with festival organizers to reduce harms to festival goers, including facilitating training to first aid attendants and other first responders on overdose prevention, opioids and naloxone administration. You can get a take-home naloxone kit for free from pharmacies(link is external) and other agencies in Ottawa. For more about overdoses and how to prevent them, visit StopOverdoseOttawa.ca and https://blogs.ottawa.ca/santeottawahealth/en/2017/06/12/dont-miss-out-because-you-are-onthenod/
Members of the Ottawa Overdose Prevention and Response Task Force include Ottawa Public Health, Ottawa Paramedic Services, Ottawa Police Service, Ottawa Fire Services, OC Transpo, The Ottawa Hospital, The Royal Ottawa Hospital, Montfort Hospital, Queensway Carleton Hospital, The Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Rideauwood Addictions and Family Services, The Office of the Regional Coroner, Coalition of Community Health and Resource Centres, Respect Pharmacy, Champlain Local Health Integration Network, Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre, Ottawa Carleton Pharmacist Association, Direction de santé publique, Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de l'Outaouais.
Public Inquiries
311
Opioid overdose wallet
These wallet cards include information on how to spot and react to an opioid overdose as well as information on the Good Samaritan Law.
The cards are available free of charge, and can be ordered via the Health Canada website: http://www.hc-publication-sc.hc-sc.gc.ca/paccb-dgapcc/cmcd-dcmc/webpubs.nsf/Web1/170576?OpenDocument&lang=eng&
For orders of 150 wallet cards or more, please contact Monica Pantusa, Senior Advisor, Partnerships (Health Canada, Opioids) - [email protected]
Opioids toolkit
Drug Use During Festival Season (2017)
http://healthycanadians.gc.ca/recall-alert-rappel-avis/hc-sc/2017/63776a-eng.php
2024 EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION OPENS NOVEMBER 1, 12PM EST The Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Fest ...
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