May 3, 2021 | In June 2020, the Sunshine Coast Division of Family Practice established the Sunshine Coast Opioid Overdose Prevention Task Force using Shared Care Committee funding from their addictions project. The Task Force’s goal is managing the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the community’s overdose crisis and destigmatizing opioid use through increased public awareness.
Their strategy includes:
- Developing a physician education video series discussing to safe supply and addiction services referral pathway information. The videos are available to Sunshine Coast Division members through their Division website and some are in circulation with appropriate allied health providers.
- Creating naloxone kits for overdose patients at the Sechelt Hospital emergency department.
- Monthly communications to inform and educate the public about overdoses and how the opioid crisis is impacting the community.
- Collaborating with Vancouver Coastal Health and the Canadian Mental Health Association to create the Sunshine Coast Overdose Outreach Team (SCOOT) and fund a pilot project to have a peer position join the outreach team.
Read more about how the Sunshine Coast Division’s challenges and successes in responding to the opioid crisis during the pandemic: Sunshine Coast task force tackles coast opioid deaths (PDF).