The Wild Women of the North Society is marking International Overdose Day this weekend.
The Wild Women of the North Society is hosting an event in memory of all those who have lost their lives to overdose Saturday, Aug. 31 from noon to 6 p.m. at LeBourdais Park.
There will be live entertainment and free food, and Naloxone and the training to administer it will be provided.
Gail Rutledge will be on-site to provide trauma counselling, and the society’s members who are trained in suicide talk and psychological first aid will be on-site as well.
The Wild Women of the North Society is hoping to include as many agencies and organizations with information about harm reduction and recovery at the event as possible to provide information about the services they provide and the requirements to access those services.
International Overdose Awareness Day is a global event held each year on Aug. 31, which aims to raise awareness of overdose and reduce the stigma of a drug-related death, according to the International Overdose Awareness Day website. This day also acknowledges the grief felt by families and friends remembering those who have died or had a permanent injury as a result of drug overdose and spreads the message that the tragedy of overdose death is preventable.
It has been three years since Dr. Perry Kendall, the provincial Medical Health Officer, declared a public health emergency under the Public Health Act on April 14, 2016, in response to increasing overdoses and overdose deaths in our province.
At the time the public health emergency was announced, the B.C. Centre for Disease Control stated that illicit drug deaths in B.C. have increased each year since 2012 .
For more information about the upcoming event, email wildwomenofthenorth@gmail.com or call 250-983-9669.
