Paramedics want more naloxone as overdoses rise

By Rupert Nuttle

Faced with a massive spike in opioid overdoses, Ottawa’s paramedics are joining paramedics across the province to demand twice their current supply of an antidote called naloxone.

The Ontario Paramedic Association will send their request in a letter to the Ontario Association of Paramedic Chiefs on Feb. 10.

Naloxone, usually administered by a needle in the arm, has been used for decades to revive people who have overdosed on opioids such as heroin, morphine and OxyContin. Opioids restrict a user’s breathing when taken in too-high doses, leading to death. Naloxone counteracts this effect, pulling the user back from the brink.

Currently, ambulances in Ottawa and most of Ontario are supplied with two vials of naloxone and one ventilator.

While this has been sufficient in the past, according to Darryl Wilton, the president of the Professional Paramedic Association of Ottawa, that’s no longer the case.

Now, paramedics frequently run out of their supply in the middle of their shift and have resorted to administering the naloxone more “aggressively” – by having the patient inhale the antidote or injecting it directly into their bloodstream – to ensure its efficacy.

Paramedics across Ontario have been facing the same challenge, said Wilton, as the extremely potent opioids fentanyl and carfentanil – fentanyl’s stronger cousin – are increasingly found laced into street drugs, often surprising regular users while also threatening their lives.

In 2015, the most current year for which data is available, there were 29 unintentional deaths from opioid overdose in Ottawa, of which 14 involved fentanyl. Overdose deaths increased 32 percent from 2014 to 2015, according to Ottawa Public Health.

Wilton said he’s confident paramedic chiefs will recognize the urgency of the problem and respond accordingly.

He added that an increased supply of naloxone is “the next logical step” in handling what has become a national public health crisis.