City police receive fentanyl antidote

Municipal police officers in P.E.I. are now carrying the antidoteto fentanyl, the deadly opioid that has caused an epidemic offatal overdoses in Canada.

Although IslandRCMPhavebeen carrying the kits since late last year, police in Charlottetown and Summerside took delivery of dosages of antidote Thursday afternoon.

"Police services are trying to get out front of this," said Deputy Chief GaryMcGuiganin Charlottetown. "We want to be prepared in order to protect the public and also to protect police should they come across thefentanyland accidentally be exposed to it."

The four-milligram packets of the drug,known as naloxone, will be carried on the duty belts of frontline police officers. One dose of naloxone, administered as a single-dose nasal spray, can restore breathing and consciousness in a personthat has overdosed on fentanyl or other opioid drugs.

On P.E.I., illicit use of fentanyl has been linked to two deaths over the past five years.Western Canada has seen an alarming rise in overdoses.

P.E.I.'s premier addressed the issue in the legislature Thursday.

"The key to success is collaboration," said Wade MacLauchlan. "We must work with health, police and community partners."

The Opposition called for all first responders to be equipped with the antidote.

"There's no talk aboutequippingthe fire departments with thenaloxonekits," ConservativeMLA James Aylward told the legislature. "Fundamentally, that's where we need to get to. We need to make sure that the first responders that are quite often on the scene first are trained and have the access to save lives before it is too late."

• Opiates involved in nearly half of P.E.I. drug overdose deaths

Island paramedics are equipped with naloxone and it'salso at the ready inside P.E.I.'s provincial jail.

Some municipal officers, including officers with Charlottetown police, had already completed their training in using naloxoneand began carrying the drug Thursday afternoon.

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