Protest in Kitchener focuses on teaching people how to save lives [Video]

A demonstration held in downtown Kitchener on Wednesday taught participants how to save lives in the event of an opioid overdose.

Outreach workers and advocates for Kitchener’s Consumption Treatment Services (CTS) site offered lessons on naloxone administration, as they continue to call on the province to reverse its decision regarding the closures of 10 CTS locations, including the one at 150 Duke Street in Kitchener.

Organizers said teaching people how to use the potentially life-saving medicine can reduce harm.

“That’s what we’re doing here today. We’re training people how to respond effectively to an overdose,” Waterloo Region Drug Action Team volunteer Michael Parkinson said.

Volunteers worry if the Ford government moves forward with plans to close the Kitchener CTS in March of next year, more overdoses may happen in public.

“Our ultimate goal is to make sure that everybody in the community is equipped with the skills and knowledge to …