DJs, nightclub owners, and staff organize overdose workshop

Vancouver DJ Chavi Alvarez says that during every show she promotes or plays, there's a worry at the back of her mind that someone will overdose on fentanyl and will die before they can be saved with first aid and naloxone.

"We want to make sure everyone is safe and we want to know what to do in case of an emergency because you know that's on your conscience. You're liable if something happens at one of your events," she said.

So she, along with other DJs, promoters, night club owners and their staff helped organize a workshop on Sunday that brought in registered nurses to show them how to administer first aid and the opioid antidote naloxone to someone suspected of an overdose.

"Fentanyl is being cut into every drug and you know drugs are unavoidable in the nightclub community," she said.

Around 100 people attended the workshop, which was hosted by the Fortune Sound Club and was also open to the public.

Orla Adams, was one of the nurses who gave hands-on demonstrations about recognizing overdoses and the steps to take in treating people, such as doing rescue breathing, calling 911 and using naloxone.

She says she hasn't heard of anyone overdosing at a night club show or underground party, but realizes they probably are happening as fentanyl is showing up in party drugs like cocaine.

"But I think most of all, what we're seeing is people who are willing to prevent these situations from happening, which is super important," said Adams of overdoses.

Several people at the workshop regularly host underground parties that are not legal, which adds another level of risk to helping someone who has stopped breathing after ingesting dangerous drugs.

"As a nightclub owner or an illegal venue operator there are a number of risks that you take when you have inebriated and intoxicated people in your space and and this is one way that we can kind of help people learn how to manage that," she said.

Alvarez wants promoters and hosts to do the right thing in the face of mounting overdoses.

"Just people's safety is the number one priority," said Alvarez. "The legality of your venue is not more important than someone's life."

"If someone is in danger and is unresponsive call an ambulance. You're not going to get in trouble and if you do that's not as important as someone losing a life."

Alvarez works with five other DJs promoting shows through FOMO Vancouver. They now plan to buy both mobile first aid sets along with naloxone kits to keep on hand wherever they play.

"What I want to do, is at least 24 hours prior to my event, I want to delegate the tasks and just have people remember what they're going to do if [an overdose] were to happen," she said.