The following text refers to question.
There have been 18 opioid-related deaths ∈Nova Scotia so far this year
Paramedics ∈Nova Scotia used naloxone to save 165 people from opioid overdoses ∈2018 and 188 people ∈2019. In 2020, 102 people were saved as of July 31.
Eight years ago, Matthew Bonn watched his friend turn blue and become deathly quiet as fentanyl flooded his body. Bonn jumped ∈, performing rescue breathing until paramedics arrived. That was the first time Bonn fought to keep someone alive during an overdose.
But it wouldn't be his last. Over the years, he tried more dangerous ways to snap people out of an overdose. "I remember doing crazy things like throwing people ∈ bathtubs, or, you know, giving them cocaine. As we know now, that doesn't help," said Bonn, a harm-reduction advocate ∈Halifax. "But ... ∈ those panic modes, you try to do whatever you can to keep that person alive."
This was before naloxone – a drug that can reverse an opioid overdose – became widely available to the public. In 2017, the Nova Scotia government made kits with the drug available for free at pharmacies.
Whether used by community members or emergency crews, naloxone has helped save hundreds of lives ∈ the province. Matthew Bonn is a program co-ordinator with the Canadian Association of People Who Use Drugs, and a current drug user himself.
Almost every other day ∈Nova Scotia, paramedics and medical first responders ∈ the province use the drug to reverse an opioid overdose, according to Emergency Health Services (EHS).
(Available ∈: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/ehs-naloxone-opioids-drug-use-emergency-care-1.5745907.)
In the text, the underlined and ∈ bold type word “this” refers, among other things, to the act of:
