Free access to naloxone for municipal police services

Naloxone, sold under the brand name Narcan among others, is a medication used to block the effects of opioids.

The Laurentian Integrated Health and Social Services Center (CISSS) announced the creation of a new project that allows free access to naloxone to all municipal police departments, in order to respond promptly to opioid overdoses in the area.

In a context where many substances circulating on the black market contain unexpected products and can thus cause serious reactions such as severe overdoses and death, naloxone is a drug that can be administered in the event of an opioid overdose and save people lives.

In addition, making naloxone accessible to different types of stakeholders, such as police officers, is one of the priorities of the Public Health Department of the CISSS des Laurentides.

Details of the project

Thanks to this great bond between the CISSS des Laurentides and the municipal police services in the region, a process has just been put in place allowing trained municipal police officers to have access to intranasal naloxone.

As the development of the project is well underway, since the signing of agreements with each police service is underway, a very first agreement formalizing access to naloxone at the CISSS des Laurentides was made with the Régie de police du Lac des Deux- Mountains. Moreover, following the signing of this very first official agreement, the same evening, police officers from the Régie de police du Lac des Deux-Montagnes used naloxone to save the life of a woman who had had a overdose.

This first very successful cooperation pleased the director of public health of the Laurentians, Dr Éric Goyer, who says he is delighted with this partnership: “We are extremely grateful and happy with the progress of this ambitious project, because the needs are important. By being properly trained and equipped, the police will be ready to save lives.” he said.

Finally, all municipal police services will be called upon during the winter of 2021, for a meeting with the CISSS des Laurentides, in order to continue training and development of the project for the entire territory.

Currently, naloxone is offered free of charge in pharmacies in the region as well as in certain community organizations, for all substance users, their loved ones and community workers.

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