Overdose treatment

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Hamilton police, along with other police forces across the province may soon be carrying a new weapon in their arsenal, one that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose. Last year, Health Minister Jane Philpott issued an interim order to make the nasal spray form of Naloxone available in this country. It was approved in October and 22 000 kits have already been distributed across the country.

Naloxone has been used for years to counteract opioid overdoses, but police officers were reluctant to carry the syringes with their gear. Now the drug is available as a nasal spray under the brand name Narcan. Its Canadian distributor says it works because opioids stick to certain brain receptors.

“Those receptors are the same ones that tell your body to breathe. Narcan allows the body to regulate its own breathing mechanisms.”

Hamilton Public Health has offered take-home Naloxone in a harm reduction program since 2014. Last year, 185 people in the city were rescued with the drug. But it’s not just for overdosing drug users, Hamilton police and fire officials may carry Narcan to protect themselves in case they accidentally ingest some of the extremely toxic opioids they encounter in their work.

Hamilton and Halton police are still researching Narcan. Waterloo police began training officers in January and hope to receive their kits soon. Peterborough police were the first to start carrying Narcan, they started last December.