EDMONTON, AB: Adopting best practices from British Columbia to combat the fentanyl crisis including equipping policing officers with naloxone nasal spray units should be done to save lives, the Wildrose Official Opposition said.
The Calgary Police Service has followed the Vancouver Police Department’s lead in equipping officers with the naloxone nasal spray, instead of the more difficult to administer injection kit.
“So long as we have an opioid crisis in our province, we need to equip first line responders with access to life-saving naloxone,” Wildrose Leader Brian Jean said. “The NDP government should be collaborating with all contracted RCMP services across our province to equip officers with the easier to administer nasal spray form of naloxone.”
Numbers for overdose deaths in Alberta have only been updated for the first six months of 2016, leaving questions as to why the NDP government has not introduced a public health emergency to allow for more information sharing and public reporting of statistics.
“We all need to be working together in this crisis, and it is my hope that the government will work collaboratively with RCMP detachments in Alberta to equip officers with naloxone nasal spray that can truly save lives, including that of an officer if they were to come into contact with the deadly drug,” Wildrose Shadow Health Minister Drew Barnes said. “Wildrose will continue to push the NDP government to exhaust all avenues of support for those grappling with fentanyl addiction, including equipping officers with naloxone nasal spray, implementing a public health emergency and providing greater funding for addictions and treatment beds.”