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RCMP want to give life-saving drug

Mounties are proposing officers be able to administer Naxolone, which rescues opiate users from overdose
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Naxolone

Soon, police may be able to administer a life-saving drug to people who are overdosing on opiates.

Surrey RCMP are working with Fraser Health and the B.C. Centre for Disease Control to train police officers on how to deliver injections of Naloxone, known as an opioid antagonist.

Naloxone can be used to rescue people from overdosing on opiates, such as heroin, Oxycodone and Fentanyl.

In recent months, there have been several overdoses of Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opiate which dealers are adding to heroin.

Fatalities have been avoided with the use of paramedic administered Nalaxone.

When an overdose is called in, it's often described as a person acting in a suspicious, sometimes violent, manner.

For safety, police go in first, while medical crews take up a position a safe distance away.

Because they are often the first responder, Surrey RCMP are now proposing training for officers to inject the drug.

The plan to launch a pilot project in Surrey is still in its infancy.

The details of the arrangement are still being finalized, and police say more information will be shared if the Letter of Agreement is signed and Surrey RCMP officers being authorized to carry Naloxone kits.