Shelter workers and drug counsellors and even homeless people have been trained in giving the life-saving injections of naloxone to revive people from drug overdoses.
Fire departments in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows could be next to carry such kits, if both city councils agree.
Maple Ridge Fire Chief Dane Spence said that B.C. Emergency Health Services told him Wednesday that it will provide the initial training of key fire personnel, if an agreement is signed between the city and emergency services.
“They will train our trainers and we’re responsible for training our members,” Spence said.
However, the city would have to pay for the cost of the drugs or the Narcan kits, which contain naloxone, used to counteract the effects of an opiate overdose, such as fentanyl.
Spence said he’ll write a report on the costs and benefits and make a recommendation to city council.
That report will go to council as soon as possible “because of the current state of affairs.”
Fentanyl deaths have jumped in recent years, according to the B.C. Coroner’s Service.
Spence referred to a new report from the Coroners Service, citing a 50-per-cent jump in the number of fatal overdoses in the Fraser region, from Surrey to Hope, between 2014 and 2015.
In actual numbers, that represents an increase from 111 to 166.
Spence pointed out that Maple Ridge had 23 drug fatalities last year, twice as many as the larger communities of Langley or Coquitlam, which only had 11 each.
Only Vancouver, Surrey and Abbotsford had more fatal overdoses, with Abbotsford, which has about 50,000 more people, having only one more overdose than Maple Ridge.
“It strikes me as odd and I don’t know who to ask,” Spence said.
Drug fatalities include everything from heroine and cocaine, MDMA and methamphetamines as well as un-prescribed medications.
The report says most fatal overdoses don’t involve fentanyl, but added that the percentage of fentanyl fatalities has jumped from five per cent in 2012 to 30 per cent last year.
A person suffering a drug overdose at the Cliff Avenue homeless camp last May survived thanks to the help of a Good Samaritan, a homeless person, who had a Narcan kit. Medical oversight, that is permission from an emergency physician, will be required before a firefighter administers an antidote. That can be obtained over the phone from physicians, who are on standby 24/7.
Maple Ridge has more than 100 full- and part-time firefighters, while Pitt Meadows has 30 paid on-call firefighters.
Spence stressed that having the fire department equipped with the kits won’t save everyone. It’s just another tool for emergency responders.
Pitt Meadows fire chief Don Jolley was also on the line with Emergency Health Services.
“It’s certainly something that appears on the surface to have value in the community,” he said.
“If we have clearance from council, we’ll process as time permits.”