Delta police are set to become one of the first municipal police forces in B.C. to have its frontline officers equipped with Naloxone.
As health officials work to control the deadly fentanyl crisis, first responders are on the front lines seeing people dying from opioid overdoses at an alarming rate.
Chief Neil Dubord said he has never seen a drug crisis like this in all his years of policing, a situation that requires a strategic response that reaches beyond enforcement, education and awareness.
He said the idea behind equipping officers with Naloxone spray came out of the September town hall meetings held in response to nine overdoses in South Delta on Sept. 1. All nine people survived.
"I went to a police board meeting about a week after those town hall meetings and asked if we could research this idea and see how much it would cost, so that's where it took off," said Dubord, adding it cost $30,000 for the kits and training.
Police commenced the rollout of the Naloxone protocol mid-November by training officers and staff. It's anticipated that by next week, all identified staff will either have access to, or be personally issued, a kit.
