Like many cities across Canada, Ottawa has seen a significant increase in the harms of fatal and non-fatal overdoses since the start of the pandemic and unfortunately these rates have remained elevated. As part of Ottawa’s Overdose Response Strategy, Ottawa Public Health (OPH) continues to work with a large network of partners to make tangible improvements in community capacity to prevent and respond effectively to overdose, while promoting substance use health and wellbeing.
In June 2023, OPH implemented a no-cost “Party Safer” e-training focused on safer substance use tips. The online training has over a 90% satisfaction rate and has reached over 1,000 public participants to date. This training has also been adopted as a requirement by some post-secondary institutions, local events and festival networks.
Leveraging on the success of the Party Safer course, OPH introduced an online Overdose Prevention and Response Training on February 12th, 2024. This 20-minute self-directed training targets community and social services staff, educators, business owners, housing staff and many others who interact with community members and equips these learners with information on:
- Types of Drugs and Current Context
- Drug Intoxication and Overdose Prevention
- Naloxone and the 5 Steps to Respond to an Opioid Overdose
- Debriefing and information on where to access mental health, addictions and substance use health supports and services (including multilingual resources)
This new e-training will help to expand our reach further and build intermediary capacity to effectively prevent and respond to overdose within Ottawa’s diverse communities. OPH continues to receive a high volume of requests for in-person and virtual workshops on various mental health, addictions and substance use health topics. Throughout 2023, OPH were able to reach many groups alongside our partners, including people in the construction industry, community outreach teams and social workers, post-secondary, middle and high school students and staff, security teams, faith leaders, event and festival teams, systems navigation teams, shelter staff, City services staff, people who are marginally housed, and more. OPH will maintain these in-person services in 2024 and are confident that this new online training will help advance Ottawa’s Overdose Response Strategy.
Through training programs like this one, the Party Safer training, Suicide Prevention training, and other mental health substance use health programs; OPH continues to partner and work closely with City of Ottawa departments in their work supporting Ottawa residents. This includes the Ottawa Paramedic Service, Ottawa Police Services, Community Social Services Department, By Law and Regulatory Services, Parks and Recreation, Ottawa Transit Services Ottawa Public Library, and more.
The Overdose Prevention and Response Task Force continues to advance initiatives across all areas of importance from prevention work with schools, families and youth; to improving data, coordinating harm reduction and stigma prevention efforts; to increasing access to treatment, addressing community safety, responding to clusters of overdose, and working towards the longer-term solutions that safe, supportive and affordable housing can provide.
Please see below for more context on accessing the e-training and helpful links for local mental health, addictions, and substance use health supports.
How to Access Online Overdose Prevention and Response Training:
- The Overdose Prevention and Response Training is available onOLearn.Ottawa.ca in English and French. A link to OLearn can also be found on StopOverdoseOttawa.ca.
- Once an account is activated on OLearn, the participant can enroll in the Overdose Prevention and Response Training course found on the OLearn homepage under “Courses”.
- The course takes approximately 20 minutes to complete, with the option to exit and re-open it without losing progress.
- After completing the course, an optional downloadable certificate is enabled in the participant’s account for 1 year. We recommend doing this training annually and at your own pace.
The content presented in the course will be reviewed and updated on a regular basis and may change overtime as we work to share information to reduce harms related to substance use. In addition to this course, we continue to deliver in-person trainings and understand barriers that people may face with accessing online learning. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the course, please contact Ottawa Public Health’s Addictions and Substance Use Health Team by e-mail at substancehealthsante@ottawa.ca.
| Helpful Links – Mental Health, Addictions and Substance Use Health |
| Stop Overdose Ottawa Webpage: StopOverdoseOttawa.ca Public Online Learning Platform: OLearn (Ottawa.ca) |
| Ottawa’s Overdose Response Strategy: What is Ottawa’s Plan? |
| Harm Reduction Services: Ottawa Public Health – Harm Reduction Services Mental Health, Addictions and Substance Use Health Resources: English – Mental Health, Addictions and Substance Use Health Resources ListFrench – Mental Health, Addictions and Substance Use Health Resources ListEnglish – African, Caribbean, Black (ACB) Mental Health and Substance Use Resources ListFrench – African, Caribbean, Black (ACB) Mental Health and Substsance Use Resources ListOttawaPublicHealth.ca/WellnessResourcesAndServices: Additional resources for children, youth and young adults, parents, newcomers, older adults, postpartum families, First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities, 2SLGTBQ+ communities, people experiencing violence, people experiencing loss, people looking for suicide prevention supports, health care workers, and people who are deaf and hard of hearing. |
| Discarded Needles in Our Communities: Discarded Needles – StopOverdoseOttawa.ca Safe Handling and Disposal of Sharps (Training Video)Needle Drop-BoxesReturning Medical Sharps to PharmaciesIntegrated Strategies to Collect Discarded NeedlesWorking with Individuals Who Use Needles |
| Website for Parents: Youth and Opioids – What parents need to know – Parenting in Ottawa |
| Multilingual Print Resources: Ottawa Public Health – Opioid Signage Multilingual Opioid Overdose Recognition Cards: English – Signs of an Opioid Overdose CardFrench – Signs of an Opioid Overdose CardArabic – Signs of an Opioid Overdose CardSomali – Signs of an Opioid Overdose Card Overdose Detection Technologies Cards: English – National Overdose Response Service (NORS) & The Brave App CardFrench – National Overdose Response Service (NORS) & The Brave App Card |
