Mayor says naloxone kits for cops not needed
Mayor Drew Dilkens believes nothing statistically in Windsor supports the cost, training and benefits of local police carrying naloxone.
Dilkens on Wednesday bristled at public comments made a day earlier by Doris Grinspun, head of the province’s nurses association, who attacked him and police administration in Windsor for failing to have officers carry naloxone — the only large municipality in Ontario where officers do not carry the nasal spray medication used to block effects of opioids and help reverse overdoses.
“I appreciate the head of nurses from Toronto informing us on what we should be doing in Windsor,” said Dilkens, who is chairman of the police services board. “But I like to make decisions based on data. There is nothing presented to me that shows arming our officers with naloxone is the right thing to do.”
The medication only works on opioid-related situations, but is ineffective for any other type of overdose situation, such as use of crystal meth, the mayor said.
An online search shows generic naloxone can cost between $20 and $40 per dose, while a top brand known as Narcan can cost around $130 to $140 for a kit that includes two doses.
Aside from a hefty initial cost to purchase the medication, train the city’s 450 police officers on its use and keep an updated supply in their hands, the mayor believes there would soon be an even greater financial burden placed on taxpayers through a “snowball effect.”
He suggested that local police will next be pressured to carry other medications such as Epipens or nitroglycerine to aid with heart attack victims.
Emergency response for overdose victims is best left to those medically trained and equipped to handle such situations — EMS workers, Dilkens said.
“There would be this notion that police should take care of everything and everyone,” he said. “That’s why you have medics. Our police already have their hands full dealing with crime.
“Do you really want a $100,000-a-year first responder doing another first responder’s job when they are already behind (in keeping up with the city’s criminal issues or police calls).
“You want to make sure your police are responding to criminal calls and not become medical response. Anything that pushes police away from that does a disservice to everyone else in the city as a whole.”
If new information is put in front of him that “shows otherwise and warrants supporting this,” then the police board would take another look at officers carrying the medication, the mayor said.
“From what has been presented, I’m not convinced it’s right for Windsor,” Dilkens said.
An inquiry to Windsor police Chief Pam Mizuno on Wednesday led to a response by department spokesman Sgt. Steve Betteridge.
“The chief has already publicly spoken about that topic and there is no new information to provide at this time,” he said.
On Oct. 24, following a police services board meeting, Mizuno said the department was presently not going to change its stance on officers carrying naloxone.
“Chief (Al) Frederick in the past has said we won’t be issuing our officers with naloxone kits and we’re going to continue down that path for now,” she said. “It is a medical response and it’s best served by EMS. We have excellent (EMS) coverage and we have excellent response within our city.
“But of course if the landscape changes and if the situation in our city changes, we’re constantly going to assess and, if need be, we will issue naloxone. But at this point, with the data we have, we’re going to continue with not issuing those kits.”
The Windsor-essex County Public Health Unit has been in support of naloxone kits being more readily available throughout the community wherever feasible.
“The Windsor Essex County Health Unit continues to engage all partners of the Windsor-essex Community Opioid & Substance Strategy (WECOSS) in addressing the opioid crisis in Windsor and Essex County,” said Theresa Marentette, the health unit’s CEO, in an email statement on Wednesday.
“The health unit fully supports all agencies and organizations in their decision to carry naloxone, including the provision of training, policy development and distribution of naloxone in our community.”