Fargo Police will not be Carrying Narcan

Fargo Police have made the decision to not have officers carry the overdose antidote, Narcan.

Fire, on the other hand, is taking another course.

As of now, only F-M Ambulance is carrying Narcan.

With the recent rise of overdoses, other public safety agencies are now considering having this antidote.
 
“They call this the magic drug and it’s not a magic drug. It does reverse those affects,” says  Fargo Fire Chief Steve Dirksen.

Dirksen says that starting this summer, the fire department along with the EMT will start carrying Narcan.

Dirksen also says in recent data, the F-M ambulance used the opiate antidote 30 times in the first quarter of the year alone, with a success rate of 72 percent.
 
“I mean obviously, Narcan is something that will help mitigate the overdoses but won’t solve the problem,” says Lt. Joe Anderson of Fargo Police.
 
Although this may not be the remedy for the drug epidemic that’s plaguing the valley, some say this is a step in the right direction.
 
“Right now we’re going to assisting in respiratory issues until we decide further what to do,” say Chief David Todd of Fargo Police.

Officers are CPR trained and can help the victim while another first responder administers the Narcan.
 
But with F-M ambulance and fire department arriving on scene, Chief Todd doesn’t think it’s necessary to have officers trained for this antidote.

There are other complications such as 40 hours of training for more than 100 officers.

And of course, battling against Mother Nature for when winter rolls back into town.
 
“Our squad cars for the most part are parked outside in the winter time. I don’t believe that the Narcan can freeze. So that is an issue for us,” says  Anderson.
 
In a statement released tonight by the city, Mayor Mahoney said “we are committed to vigorously addressing the opioid crisis with every tool at our disposal”.