Tuesday, March 5, 2019

#RethinkPharmacists: Providing tools to prevent overdose-related harm

The #RethinkPharmacists series is presented by the Waterloo School of Pharmacy for Pharmacist Awareness Month in March. The series highlights services pharmacists provide in addition to standard prescription filling and counselling.

Do you know someone taking opioid medications? Then you should have a naloxone kit in case of accidental overdose. In Ontario, naloxone kits are available free of charge at participating pharmacies, thanks to the Ontario Naloxone Program for Pharmacies.

Overdoses on medications like oxycodone and fentanyl have been on the rise in Canada, claiming as many as 9,000 lives between January 2016 and June 2018. These widely prescribed medications can be addictive and are often used for recreational purposes. Misuse of any kind – accidental ingestion by someone who doesn’t normally take opioids, mixing the drug with other substances, taking a dose that is too high – can be deadly, as an overdose can cause the person using the drug to stop breathing.

This is where naloxone comes in – it’s a life-saving medication that can be administered via nasal spray or injection. Naloxone reverses the effect of an overdose so that the person in danger starts breathing again and can be taken to a hospital.

Naloxone kits are freely available at pharmacies and from public health agencies. Your pharmacist can demonstrate how to use either form of naloxone. This video also shows how to identify an overdose and give naloxone:

Executive actions in the UK and beyond

President Feridun Hamdullahpur shakes hands with Professor Scott MacGregor, Vice Principal of University of Strathclyde. 

It’s Tuesday, March 5. Do you know what your president is up to?

President Hamdullahpur took part in a number of on and off campus meeting and events over the past few weeks. Here is a non-exhaustive list of the President’s recent activities and a look ahead at what's on his calendar.

The President was invited to give a guest lecture Wednesday, February 13 to students from the Master of Public Service program. The President spoke about his personal experiences starting as a researcher to becoming a university administrator and his perspective on how a university acts as a vehicle for public policy in the community.

The University of Waterloo headed to the United Kingdom as the Waterloo Innovation Summit traveled to London on February 18, with President Hamdullahpur welcoming the distinguished group of attendees that included business and academic leaders and government representatives. The President took time to meet and connect with some of our internationally and London-based alumni later that night.

On Thursday, February 21 the President toured the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. The President met with university leaders and researchers as it is one of our UK partner institutions.

It was a proud day for the University as the President traveled with Waterloo Professor and Nobel Laureate, Donna Strickland, to Ottawa on February 26 where our esteemed researcher was honoured on Parliament Hill.

President Hamdullahpur represented the University of Waterloo at the Business and Higher Education Roundtable (BHER) in Toronto on a snowy Wednesday, February 27. The BHER brings together business and education leaders to keep an open dialogue between the two sectors to ensure Canada remains strong and prosperous.

Later that day, the President attended the exciting launch celebration for Feds’ thirtieth student-run service, Racial Advocacy for Inclusion, Solidarity, and Equity (RAISE), at Fed Hall.

What’s next on the President’s schedule?

The President will be welcoming 20 undergraduate and graduate students today for an informal discussion on anything and everything about their time at Waterloo at the next President’s Pop-up Café.

International Women’s Day (IWD) is on Friday, March 8 and the President will be welcoming the University and local community to the annual IWD Dinner.

President Hamdullahpur will be traveling to Hong Kong from March 11-14 to reconnect with several local partners including the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Consul General of Canada in Hong Kong and Macao Jeff Nankivell and our esteemed local alumni.

Volleyball Warriors headed to OUA Final Four

This article was originally published on the Athletics website.

The Warriors women's volleyball team flexed their No. 4 ranked muscles on Saturday night in their OUA quarter-final battle with York, taking out the Lions in straight sets (17, 18, 18) to punch their first ticket to the OUA Final Four since 2008.

The Warriors will host the top four teams in the province (Ryerson, Toronto, Western) next Friday and Saturday with the black and gold slated to play Toronto in the semifinals on Friday at 6:00 p.m.

Waterloo had a very polished game putting away 33 kills while only committing 11 errors and were again strong defensively with 48 digs in the match. They also had 10 service aces in the straight sets win.

"We were able to serve aggressively and put York under pressure and take them out of their comfort zone, giving us many good chances to transition and score," said head coach Richard Eddy after the win.

The Warriors were led by a pair of fifth years as Claire Mackenzie and Sarah Remedios had outstanding matches in their first playoff victory with the black and gold.

Mackenzie was almost unstoppable putting away a game high 12 kills while adding three blocks and four service aces for 18 points. Remedios was incredible on the defensive side with a game high 15 digs, a collection of them being highlight-reel saves.

"We got a solid game from Claire (Mackenzie) with some big kills and Sarah who passed very well tonight, and we were able to control the serve receive game."

Another senior, Brooklyn Gallant was also key to the victory with several crafty plays at the net, finishing with six kills, one block, one ace, and 10 digs.  Sarah Glynn and Samantha Warner rounded out Waterloo's attack, each with three kills while Warner had three blocks. 

Setting up the Warriors was Claire Gagne who was on her game with 27 assists in the victory while adding seven digs. 

"It feels amazing," said fifth year Remedios. "We prepared like it was any other home game, focussing on the Lions and our serve receive game was on, enabling us to get the win. The crowd was awesome and we were able to feed off the noise while playing our game."

Remedios went on to say they know they are just one win away from a berth at Nationals but their focus remains the same as it has all season, one game at a time and that game will be their semifinal tilt with Toronto. 

"Toronto poses some threats that we have to be well prepared for," said Eddy. "The key to our success for us this year has been to improve every day. We'll get back in the gym and identify things we want to work on from today's match and plan accordingly for Toronto on Friday."

Tickets for the OUA Final Four are now on sale with the first 100 tickets for both Friday and Saturday offered free to UW students. 

Registration opens for 2019 Waterloo Staff Conference

A message from Organizational & Human Development (OHD).

The 12th annual Waterloo Staff Conference taking place on April 8 and 9, features world-class keynotes as well as workshops (designed by your own campus colleagues) that help to develop personal and professional growth.

The conference keynotes offer talks on leadership through a communication lens; on the skills that will build teams and careers in the 21^st century; on balancing our work lives with our family lives, professional goals and more; and finally on exploring Canada’s own backyard as a first-rate travel destination and for personal growth and development.  As well, a special presentation with guest speaker, Jeremie Saunders will explore living your life openly with illness and removing the stigma attached to chronic illness and disease. Jeremie is focused to change the conversation and believes that laughing about the absurdity of his own illness ‘takes away its power’.  

Workshops are listed online with descriptions, learning outcomes, and key themes to review before registering to find the best workshops for you.  Themes and topics vary for 2019, focusing on wellness with Self-care and The Umbrella Effect and The Benefits of a Good Night's Sleep: How Sleep Effects our Mental and Physical Health to process improvement with Huddle Boards and LEANing into Service Delivery with User Story Mapping, just to highlight a few. Other topics include Personal Branding Statements, Transportation Choices on Campus, and Unconscious Bias, and many more. There’s something for everyone at this annual event!

Registration closes on Friday, March 29. For questions about the conference, please contact Mark Lisetto-Smith, Coordinator, Communications & Events, Organizational & Human Development (mark.lisetto-smith@uwaterloo.ca Ext. 38257).

Tuesday's notes

The Pension & Benefits Committee has published its 2018 report for the University community. The report can be found on the Secretariat's website (PDF). If you have difficulty accessing the link, please contact Melissa Holst.  If you have any questions, please contact the committee secretary Mike Grivicic.

Here's today's Nutrition Month "myth vs. fact" supplied by Health Services Dietitian Sandra Ace:

Claim:  Drinking cold water in the morning jump-starts your metabolism.

Evidence:  I recently heard a family member say this and realized it’s a commonly held belief. In fact, a quick internet search led me to a barrage of articles, mainly on men and women’s health and fitness websites or blogs that cited, using the exact same wording, “German researchers found that drinking 6 cups of cold water a day (that's 48 ounces) can raise resting metabolism by about 50 calories daily — enough to shed 5 pounds in a year.” My next search was to find the research underlying this claim, which lead me to a small study published in 2003. The subjects, 7 women and 7 men, were given 500 ml of water at 22 degrees C and their metabolic rates were then measured for the next 90 minutes. It was determined that, on average, each subject burned an additional 24 calories. The mechanism for the slight boost in metabolic rate was unclear. The study authors then estimated, but didn’t test, that drinking 1500 ml of water throughout the day would burn proportionally more calories. They then projected what this energy deficit could mean over the course of one year. The conclusion is a bit of a stretch, to say the least. 

Water transports nutrients and oxygen to all the cells in your body and is critical for temperature regulation and waste product elimination. In order to function normally, your body needs to get enough fluid. Health Canada prominently features water on its new Food Guide, with the recommendation to “make water your drink of choice.” Most people are slightly dehydrated when they wake up in the morning, so having a glass or two of water first thing is a good habit and a healthy goal to focus on the remainder of the day. However, it isn’t a magic bullet for effortless weight loss. As for the temperature, drink it whichever way you prefer, as the amount of energy used to warm cold water to body temperature is negligible.