In Saskatoon, there are three to four fentanyl-related overdoses each week, according to MD Ambulance. It’s a deadly drug, doses smaller than a snowflake can kill and that’s why the Saskatoon Fire Department is arming themselves with an antidote.
“The fentanyl and opioid crisis is sweeping across Canada,” acting assistance chief Rob Hogan said.
“We’re expecting it to come to Saskatoon eventually and we’re preparing as a fire department,” he added on Thursday morning.
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As of Monday, each fire truck in the city is equipped with a naloxone kit, which reverses fentanyl’s deadly ability to stop a person from breathing.
“Opioids depress the respiratory system. When a person stops breathing, very shortly after their heart stops and of course they’re dead. What naloxone does is it blocks the receptors so that the narcotics are unable to depress the respiratory system,” Hogan explained.
The kits are also a safety precaution for first responders. Even the smallest exposure to get on a patient could kill them.
“There was an incident in Winnipeg where firefighters had to administer naloxone to themselves. That’s one of the reasons why we are carrying it.”
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Data from the chief coroner’s office shows there were 31 drug overdose deaths in Saskatchewan last year, four of those were from fentanyl.
In 2015, there were 22 deaths from fentanyl alone.
In reaction, five health regions in the province have launched a take-home naloxone kit program, with the Saskatoon Health Region being first.
Health region (launch dates):
- Saskatoon (November 2015);
- Regina Qu’Appelle (June 2016);
- Prairie North (October 2016);
- Sunrise (December 2016); and
- Prince Albert Parkland (January 2017).
The kits are available free of charge to individuals at risk of an opioid overdose after receiving training. The $30 cost is covered by the Ministry of Health.
Kits can also be purchased a pharmacies without a prescription.