The number of fatal overdoes caused by opioids has been on the rise in Ontario but now paramedics in Simcoe County are armed with a new weapon in the fight against some dangerous street drugs.

It’s called Naloxone, more commonly known as Narcan and it’s helping save lives when dealing with a drug overdose.

“A drug that we give the patients that are likely a narcotic overdose, the drug basically reverses the effects of the narcotic in the system and allows the patient to become conscious again, resume breathing,” says County of Simcoe Paramedic Services Supervisor Kristen Gilmartin.

Advanced care paramedics have been trained in the use of Naloxone for five years but as of Aug. 1, all 320 paramedics in the county are now trained and equipped.

“There is a marked increase in the use of typically the narcotics that are through prescription, they’re seeing more and more of this across Ontario and I think they’re seeing a need to actually ensure the tools are in place to actually affect those patients,” says County of Simcoe Paramedic Services Chief Andrew Robert.

In 2013, opioids, like fentanyl, heroin, morphine and oxycodone were linked to 517 drug overdose deaths in Ontario.  

“Overdosing is unfortunate a very big issue in Ontario, even more so in Simcoe Muskoka. We have in the last ten years or so, over 100 opioid associated deaths, and on average that’s about 30 percent higher than the average in Ontario,” says Dr. Colin Lee, Assoc. Medical Officer of Health for Simcoe Muskoka.

Dr. Lee says the drug works in under a minute, bringing someone back to life.

Gilmartin has given Narcan to a patient, witnessing first-hand what it can do in a life or death situation.

“It’s shocking, it happens very, very quickly. You’re surprised that it seem like they never been in the overdose they were in prior,” says Gilmartin.

The County of Simcoe Paramedic Services is among the first in Ontario to train all of its paramedics in the use of the drug. The province has mandated all paramedics be trained within the next year.