Kanata parents with drug-addicted children go to meeting hoping for answers

Sean O'Leary expected "about 10, maybe 20people" wouldturn out for aThursday night meeting he organized.

Instead, about 200parents, many of them grim-faced,packed a meeting room at the KanataRecreation Complex,looking for answers and mutual support as they struggle to help their teenage children who are addicted to opioids.

... I am losing the battle to save my daughter's life.- Sean O'Leary, meeting organizer

O'Leary did not shy away from his personal story, bluntly telling the crowd he called the meeting "because I am losing the battle to save my daughter's life."

"We've been through a very hard time in Kanata with the loss of a couple of children [from suspected fentanyloverdoses]in the last eight weeks, and this is the time to start talking and communicating because this problem is not going to be solved by government or anything else, it hasgot to be solved by the parents," he told CBC News in an interview before themeeting.

Parents admit somechildren not ready for treatment

No cameras or recording equipment were allowed at the meeting.

Several addiction counselors and public health officials spoke about counseling, treatment and detoxification programs, but many of the parents admittedtheir children are not yet at the point where they are ready for that type of help

Instead, most of their questions underlined the factthey're in the midst of a crisis. Parentswanted to know how to test pillsthey find in their children's possession,and what to do if they find their son or daughteroverdosing, or in cardiac arrest.

Public health officials said thereis no quick or easy way to test drugs, and instead suggestedparents try to get their teensto go to a doctor for a blood test, which might be able to determine whichdrug was recently ingested.

Parents were also toldthe test needsto happen within a day or two of taking the drugand would require the teenager to agree to the blood work. But that would bea huge challenge, according to some of the parents.

Many in audience have witnessed an OD

When asked if anyone in the room had ever witnessedtheir child or a friend of their child overdosing, more than two dozen people put up their hands, some becoming emotional as they looked around at familiar faces in the crowd.

That's why there was rapt attention as paramedic DeannaSchofieldexplained the basicsof performing CPR and pharmacist Mark Barnes demonstratedhow to use a naloxone kit.

Naloxoneblocks or reverses the effects of an opioid overdose and has no adverse effect if the person has not taken an opioid.

Barnes explainedthe syringe would have to be stuck into the large muscle area of the leg or arm, and if it fails to bring the person around, another dose can be administered within three to five minutes.

Naloxone kits distributed

He acknowledgedsome parents would find that task difficultin such a dire situation and that their hands might shake, but he told them the alternative might well be watchingtheir child die.

Barnesadded thatparents should always call 911 as well, because even if naloxone is effective in bringing the teenager around,he or shecould still diebecause naloxoneonly temporarily alleviates overdose symptoms.

About 100 naloxonekits, includinggloves, two vials of naloxone, twosyringes and a resuscitation mask, were made available for free at the back of the meeting room.

By the time the meeting ended, every one of them had been taken.