Police in Victoria will be trained in the use of potentially life-saving medicine for those who overdose on opioids like fentanyl.
The department released a statement Thursday confirming it was in the process of training police and civilian staff to use naloxone.
Police are not normally dispatched to overdose calls, which fall under the jurisdiction of paramedics and firefighters, but police say the new training will allow officers in the community to help anyone they come across who is suffering an overdose.
“After recent incidents in B.C. with police officers having adverse reactions from fentanyl exposure, this is a welcomed step to provide an extra layer of protection for our members,” said Sgt. Sean Plater, Union President for Victoria Police. “Our members are coming across people that are overdosing on the street, and this will also provide our officers the ability to help those people too.”
The training comes after B.C. declared a public health crisis in April over the amount of illicit drug overdoses occurring in the province.
In the first seven months of 2016, more than 400 people died from an overdose and 62 per cent of those deaths were linked to fentanyl, according to the BC Coroners Service.
The number of overdose deaths on Vancouver Island alone shot up by 145 per cent compared to the year before, according to the island’s medical health officer.
Fentanyl, an opioid-based pain killer, is roughly 100 times stronger than morphine and is often added to other illicit substances because of its relatively cheap cost.
