Highlights from WECOSS Annual Report
The Windsor-Essex Community Opioid and Substance Strategy (WECOSS) is a collaboration of community partners brought together to address the drug poisoning crisis at the community level. Highlights for the Strategy in 2023 were as follows:
- Enforcement and Justice: 21 service providers were surveyed to identify their educational needs in supporting justice-involved individuals who use substances.
- Treatment and Recovery: An online inventory of 187 substance use and mental health programs and services was developed to assist residents.
- Prevention and Education: Over 17 lbs of unused/expired medication were collected and brought to a local pharmacy for safe disposal.
- Harm Reduction: SafePoint, Windsor’s first supervised consumption service, opened its doors to serve clients on April 26, 2023. From opening to December 31, SafePoint saw:
- 1,257 client visits
- 5 overdoses (4 treated on-site, 1 transported to the emergency department for treatment)
- 237 referrals to community services
Opioid and Substance Use Notification System (OSUNS)
The WECHU’s OSUNS is a local surveillance system that tracks local trends to identify spikes in opioid and other substance use-related events across Windsor-Essex County (WEC). In 2023, the OSUNS issued 8 public alerts to notify the community about increases in opioid overdoses: https://wecoss.ca/past-alerts.
An evaluation of the OSUNS was conducted to assess the system’s impact and effectiveness and identify areas for enhancement. A survey was completed by 31 WECOSS members, of which:
- 70% found the alerts easy to understand.
- 67% agreed that alerts are issued in a timely fashion.
- 52% agreed that alerts help communicate substance use risks to clients.