TY - JOUR
KW - Alberta/epidemiology
KW - Community Health Services/organization & administration
KW - Drug Overdose/drug therapy/mortality
KW - Fentanyl/poisoning
KW - Harm Reduction
KW - Humans
KW - Naloxone/therapeutic use
KW - Narcotic Antagonists/therapeutic use
KW - Program Evaluation
AU - Lisa K. Freeman
AU - Stacey Bourque
AU - Nick Etches
AU - Karin Goodison
AU - Claire O'Gorman
AU - Kay Rittenbach
AU - Christopher A. Sikora
AU - Mark Yarema
A1 - 
AB - SETTING: Alberta is a prairie province located in western Canada, with a population of approximately 4.3 million. In 2016, 363 Albertans died from apparent drug overdoses related to fentanyl, an opioid 50-100 times more toxic than morphine. This surpassed the number of deaths from motor vehicle collisions and homicides combined. INTERVENTION: Naloxone is a safe, effective, opioid antagonist that may quickly reverse an opioid overdose. In July 2015, a committee of community-based harm reduction programs in Alberta implemented a geographically restricted take-home naloxone (THN) program. The successes and limitations of this program demonstrated the need for an expanded, multi-sectoral, multi-jurisdictional response. The provincial health authority, Alberta Health Services (AHS), used previously established incident command system processes to coordinate implementation of a provincial THN program. OUTCOMES: Alberta's provincial THN program was implemented on December 23, 2015. This collaborative program resulted in a coordinated response across jurisdictional levels with wide geographical reach. Between December 2015 and December 2016, 953 locations, including many community pharmacies, registered to dispense THN kits, 9572 kits were distributed, and 472 reversals were reported. The provincial supply of THN kits more than tripled from 3000 to 10 000. IMPLICATIONS: Alberta was uniquely poised to deliver a large, province-wide, multi-sectoral and multi-jurisdictional THN program as part of a comprehensive response to increasing opioid-related morbidity and mortality. The speed at which AHS was able to roll out the program was made possible by work done previously and the willingness of multiple jurisdictions to work together to build on and expand the program.
AD - University of Alberta and Alberta Health Services. lfreeman@ualberta.ca.
BT - Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique
C5 - Education & Workforce; Opioids & Substance Use
CP - 4
CY - Switzerland
DO - 10.17269/cjph.108.5989
IS - 4
JF - Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique
LA - eng
M1 - Journal Article
N2 - SETTING: Alberta is a prairie province located in western Canada, with a population of approximately 4.3 million. In 2016, 363 Albertans died from apparent drug overdoses related to fentanyl, an opioid 50-100 times more toxic than morphine. This surpassed the number of deaths from motor vehicle collisions and homicides combined. INTERVENTION: Naloxone is a safe, effective, opioid antagonist that may quickly reverse an opioid overdose. In July 2015, a committee of community-based harm reduction programs in Alberta implemented a geographically restricted take-home naloxone (THN) program. The successes and limitations of this program demonstrated the need for an expanded, multi-sectoral, multi-jurisdictional response. The provincial health authority, Alberta Health Services (AHS), used previously established incident command system processes to coordinate implementation of a provincial THN program. OUTCOMES: Alberta's provincial THN program was implemented on December 23, 2015. This collaborative program resulted in a coordinated response across jurisdictional levels with wide geographical reach. Between December 2015 and December 2016, 953 locations, including many community pharmacies, registered to dispense THN kits, 9572 kits were distributed, and 472 reversals were reported. The provincial supply of THN kits more than tripled from 3000 to 10 000. IMPLICATIONS: Alberta was uniquely poised to deliver a large, province-wide, multi-sectoral and multi-jurisdictional THN program as part of a comprehensive response to increasing opioid-related morbidity and mortality. The speed at which AHS was able to roll out the program was made possible by work done previously and the willingness of multiple jurisdictions to work together to build on and expand the program.
PP - Switzerland
PY - 2017
SN - 1920-7476; 0008-4263
SP - e398
EP - e402
EP - 
T1 - Alberta's provincial take-home naloxone program: A multi-sectoral and multi-jurisdictional response to overdose
T2 - Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique
TI - Alberta's provincial take-home naloxone program: A multi-sectoral and multi-jurisdictional response to overdose
U1 - Education & Workforce; Opioids & Substance Use
U2 - 29120311
U3 - 10.17269/cjph.108.5989
VL - 108
VO - 1920-7476; 0008-4263
Y1 - 2017
Y2 - Nov 9
ER -