Overdose Outreach Team helping more people

Story

Referrals to Overdose Outreach Teams (OOTs) are growing.

Overdose Outreach Teams provide confidential short-term support to connect people who have experienced an overdose with programs, services, and resources. This helps to reduce their risk of repeated overdose and support their recovery journey.

Referrals are increasing as the program gains awareness and traction. Between the start of the pilot in December 2022 and April 2024, referrals for the Regina OOT increased by 281 per cent from 91 to 347. The Saskatoon team saw a 381 per cent increase over the same period, from 54 to 260.

The Ministry of Health recently approved a one-year extension of both pilot sites to March 31, 2025.

Overdose Outreach Teams include SHA mental health and addictions staff, and primary care paramedics from the Saskatoon Fire Department and Regina Fire and Protective Services. 

To contact an Overdose Outreach Team, call or text 306-510-3445 in Regina or 639-471-8335 Saskatoon.

On the left, a man in a uniform and a woman in a jacket stand beside each other on the sidewalk in the winter in front of a building on a street in the city of Regina, Saskatchewan. On the right, a man dressed in a uniform stands beside a woman in the hallway of a health-care facility in Saskatoon.
Building trust is foundational to the work of Overdose Outreach Teams (OOT) in Saskatoon and Regina. One referral can result in multiple opportunities for intervention which can help prevent repeated overdoses and the risk of overdose death. Pictured on the left are Regina OOT members (left) Shannon Jolly, Assessor Coordinator Senior, Mental Health and Addictions Services (MHAS), Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA), and Bryan Looker, Firefighter/Primary Care Paramedic, Regina Fire and Protective Services; and on the right are Saskatoon OOT members Ashlee Suidak, SHA MHAS Addictions Counselor Degree Senior, and Dave Veilleux, Primary Care Paramedic, Saskatoon Fire Department.

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