Press Release

United Firefighters of Winnipeg

40 Winnipeg fire trucks staffed by WFD Firefighter-Paramedics now have the ability to administer the lifesaving drug Narcan.

 Naloxone (known as Nar can) is a basic drug that can save a person’s life who has overdosed on opioid drugs.

 List of some opioid drugs: heroine, fentanyl, morphine, codeine, OxyContin, etc.

 Narcan blocks the effects of opioid drugs very quickly, with NO side effects on people who are not on these drugs.

 The specific dangers of opioid drugs on overdosing people is their respiratory depressive effects. (People stop breathing)

 We will be administering this drug by needle IM (intra-muscular injection) in our patients’ thighs or delts.

 In 2015 the WFPS/WFD responded to nearly 100 Fentanyl overdoses alone in the city of Winnipeg.  Of these, approximately 45 percent were in cardiac-respiratory or respiratory arrest.  

 These drugs can now be administered from all WFD trucks by nearly 400 licensed Firefighter Paramedics in an average response time of 4 minutes.

 This increased scope of practice allows Winnipeg’s Firefighters to be an even more effective part of your Paramedic team.