By standing up against addiction, Rita Routledge is hoping to save someone else's child.
Routledge's son Brandon died of an overdose in April. Today she was one of the families affected by overdose to attend an event proclaiming Aug. 31 International Overdose Awareness Day in Timmins.
About 50 people, including families, paramedics, police, and firefighters were at the flag-lowering and moment of silence at the Porcupine Health Unit downtown Timmins.
With the amount of carfentanyl in Brandon's system, Routledge said he didn't stand a chance.
“I have a vested interest in addiction now, where before I would just say, ‘Well just quit.’ And it’s impossible for them to just quit. There needs to be social programs to improve their self esteem, ability to have some success in their life, counselling to overcome trauma which usually accompanies drug use. And I worry about our first responders, the police, the ambulance, firefighters, they’re walking into something where they might not go home to their family at the end of the day,” she said.
By saving one child, Routledge said you save a family.
"Because this has really been mentally and heartbreaking tragic living for me every day, and I don’t want to see or hear of anybody else going through it," she said.
Tim McKinnon lost his son Scottie to an opioid overdose on Boxing Day 2014.
He and his wife Debbie were at today's ceremony to bring awareness to the situation.
“There’s a lot of positives going on right now, the health unit, the first responders, the police - they’re all doing their jobs, but in my opinion what we need is more legislation. We need tougher legislation, we need minimum mandatory sentences for trafficking of opioids and we need a much stiffer minimum resulting in death, to me a life is a life,” he said.
When Scottie first died, he said they were big advocates of the fentanyl patch-for-patch program.
They continue to do what they can to raise awareness.
“It’s a terrible thing, it tears families apart. My son was a great young man with a lot of promise and as far as we know it was a first-time experiment and he didn’t get a second chance,” said McKinnon. “Don’t experiment, it’s deadly stuff.”
In the Porcupine Health Unit's area, harm reduction nurse Patrick Nowak said there's been an increase in the number of emergency room visits in relation to opioids.
In response, he said the health unit has expanded the Timmins and area drug strategy.
"We’re also looking to increase the distribution of naloxone through our various community partners and agencies so people can have the necessary life-saving medication to temporarily reverse an overdose and get the person the help they need from emergency medical services,” he said.
He noted overdose can affect anybody.
"Fentanyl can potentially infiltrate any illicit substance in the area, but we have seen for the most part fentanyl being infiltrated into the heroine supply and things like that,” Nowak said.
Carfentanyl, he said, is an "exponentially more powerful opiod", which means less is required to make someone go into an overdose state.
This year's event in Timmins to mark the awareness day is one of the biggest they've had.
Across Canada since 2015-2016, PHU medical officer of health Dr. Lianne Catton said there have been increased opioid overdose deaths.
Over the past couple of years they've been working hard to increase awareness and prevent tragic outcomes.
"This year was timely to ensure that we were really recognizing this important day for families who have lost loved ones and to recognize that as a community there’s much more that we still need to do. And to increase the compassion and conversation with everyone in the community around overdose prevention, around overdose awareness and ensuring that we’re addressing the needs of all community members,” she said.
She encourages everyone to increase the conversation, act with compassion and be aware of the substances that are potentially available in the community.
"Be aware of the concerns that are associated with that. We want everybody to recognize an overdose and to know what to do and how to respond in the case of an overdose and act accordingly to try and prevent tragic outcomes,” Catton said.
