Toronto police are set to join a growing list of emergency responders in Ontario equipped with life-saving naloxone kits, but in order for that to happen, more than 400 officers will have to be re-certified for first aid this year.
Despite that obstacle, Chief Mark Saunders expects that deployment of the opioid-overdose-reversing nasal spray will start by the end of June, according to a report to the Toronto Police Services Board on Wednesday.
The board approved the plan in February, but no date was set for the rollout.
Once implemented, nearly 1,000 officers will carry the drug. They include frontline officers, those with the major crime and community response units, the drug squad, the emergency task force, police dog services and the guns and gang task force.
READ MORE: A naloxone kit can reverse an overdose. Here’s how you can get one, and help save a life
The officers need to undergo a one-hour training course in addition to having their first-aid certification.
But as many as 44 per cent have to redo their first aid due to lapsed or expiring credentials, the report said. Half of those officers currently work in divisions surrounding safe injection sites, it stated.
Toronto police Supt. Scott Baptist, who is co-ordinating the naloxone project, said they haven’t been able to get those officers into the one- to two-day courses because of issues such as minimum staffing requirements and officer court appearances.
The report said Toronto police are working with St. John Ambulance to offer more classes.
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“With the rollout of naloxone, this has become a priority that we get these officers trained or re-certified,” Baptist said.
Naloxone, which is effective within minutes, targets opioid receptors in the brain to reverse an overdose. It works on drugs such as fentanyl, oxycodone and heroin.
Toronto police officers will carry two doses in the form of a nasal spray.
Toronto Mayor John Tory told reporters he’s confident the police force is moving as fast as it can on the plan.
Meanwhile, Toronto police, along with other forces, are awaiting an update on the rules surrounding officers providing emergency treatment for drug overdoses.
The province’s police watchdog currently investigates such incidents when they result in serious injury or death.
However, a bill passed in March will allow Ontario’s Attorney General to potentially amend the jurisdiction of the Special Investigations Unit.
Those new rules are expected later this year, according to a report presented at the Toronto Police Services Board on Wednesday.
Tory said he hopes the provincial government can address the matter quickly.
“If one police officer in one instance can save one life by administering naloxone, we don’t want them to think for a millisecond about some proceeding that might take place after that, and so I’m optimistic the government will move to pass that regulation. And hopefully, they will do it sooner than later so we can save more lives.”
Ontario Provincial Police officers, Toronto firefighters and some other police forces in Ontario currently carry naloxone. The Toronto District School Board also announced plans to make the kits available.
According to the city’s stats, Toronto paramedics have responded to over 600 suspected overdose calls this year, 35 of which were fatal.
— With files from Mark Carcasole
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