NOVAS’ McGarry House clients graduate as Overdose Prevention Workers following completion of the TOPPLE programme
This week, at the University of Limerick Graduate Entry Medical School, four McGarry House clients graduated from the project’s TOPPLE programme. The McGarry House team are looking forward to working alongside Rachel Casey, Jacinta McNamara, Damien Fitzgerald and Jonathan Haran who join the existing team of TOPPLE Peer Overdose Prevention Workers dedicated to preventing, responding to and supporting peers in the aftermath of overdose. The graduation celebration was attended by peers, McGarry House staff and management and local professionals in the fields of addiction.
The TOPPLE team is currently engaged in actively raising awareness of overdose in the community, teaching their peers how to recognise signs and symptoms of overdose. These workers are equipped with the knowledge of how to engage with emergency services and how to carry out essential life saving interventions such as CPR and administration of Naloxone. The team was involved in the organisation and delivery of a number of interagency events to mark International Overdose Awareness Day and Overdose Awareness Week. These included events in McGarry House, PALLS and The Ana Liffey Project. The TOPPLE team also liaised with the HSE Naloxone Programme. The team presented on the TOPPLE Programme at the Irish Street Medicine Symposium in University College Cork last Autumn.
To date the TOPPLE team has:
• Provided 87 Prevention Supports
• Administered Nalxone
• Provided 6 first aid supports
• Liaised with emergency services twice
• Provided 12 post overdose support interventions
• Supported the McGarry House staff team when responding to overdose.
The programme will be run for a third time onsite this Spring and it is being evaluated with a view to making it available to other services.
