WINNIPEG -- The Manitoba government is spending nearly $30,000 to purchase naloxone kits for police officers in Winnipeg and other municipal and First Nation police services across the province,.
Naloxone is a medication used to reverse the effects of opioids and prevent fatal overdoses.
The Winnipeg Police Service will receive 1,300 naloxone kits, while another 200 kits will be distributed to municipal and First Nations police services.
Officers will be trained to use the naloxone kits if they encounter someone on a call who may be experiencing an opioid overdose or if another officer has been exposed while at work.
Justice Minister Heather Stefanson says fentanyl is becoming more common in Winnipeg and throughout the province, and the kits will protect officers and the public.
Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid narcotic, linked to an increasing number of overdoses and deaths over the last several years.
Funding for the kits has been provided from the Federal Proceeds of Crime Fund.
"Fentanyl and other opioids are incredibly dangerous and potentially fatal even in small amounts, so many people might be at risk without even realizing it," said Kelvin Goertzen, seniors minister.
"This measure will support the other important work underway in Manitoba to deal with fentanyl."
This fall, the Manitoba government launched a new social media campaign to highlight the dangers associated with fentanyl.
