AnonymousSource: Santa Barbara County Public Health Department
The Santa Barbara County Emergency Medical Services Agency (SBCEMSA) recently provided Naloxone medication units and training to the City of Santa Barbara Police Department (SBPD). Naloxone is a medication designed to rapidly reverse opioid overdose. SBCEMSA is responsible for planning, implementing, and evaluating the local emergency medical services system including working with local law enforcement to implement an Optional Skills program, which trains personnel from qualified agencies, to become Public Safety-First Aid providers. Public Safety-First Aid emergency responders are provided training and tools that can save lives.
“Santa Barbara Police Officers have been professionally trained to recognize the symptoms of an opioid overdose and when to administer the life-saving drug, Naloxone,” shared Sergeant Ethan Ragsdale, PIO for SBPD. “Officers currently carry Naloxone with them during their duty shift and have saved numerous lives by being the first responders on scene during these overdose medical emergencies, many times, arriving prior to paramedics and fire department personnel. The training we receive, along with in-field application of Naloxone, is invaluable to saving community members lives when time matters most.”
In an effort to combat the effects of the opioid epidemic, California statute allows Public Safety-First Aid Agencies, law enforcement, to work with their Local Emergency Medical Services Agency to acquire authorization to use this treatment. Once trained, personnel working for one of these accredited Public Safety-First Aid Optional Skills Agencies can administer. In the last few months SBCEMSA has worked with many accredited agencies including Guadalupe Department of Public Safety, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, California State Park Rangers, and the Santa Barbara County Probation Department to train 270 officers, rangers, and deputies on emergency medical care for an individual with a suspected opiate overdose.
“The Santa Barbara EMS Agency is grateful to continue the ongoing collaboration with law enforcement agencies on this important issue. Law enforcement agencies are an important link in the chain of survival at many medical emergencies such as a suspected opioid overdose,” said Nick Clay, Director of SBCEMSA. “The number of Public Safety-First Aid Optional Skill Providers in our system underscore the synergistic approach demonstrated to improve patient care and outcomes. By training and equipping emergency responders, the EMS Agency provides emergency responders with a valuable tool to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.”
This is great news. We’re never going to win the “War on Drugs,” so it’s time to start accepting their use as a reality and be able to deal with it when it’s taken too far. Drugs are here to stay, they always have been and always will be.
Illicit drugs have never been the number one killer of people under 50 before. We are in unprecedented times on this front and myself, and many others, will not be taking your defeatist approach as the cost in human lives is way to high. I don’t think you appreciate the significance of one drug, fentanyl, being the leading cause of death for such large demographic of our population.
Where did I say give up on anything? I’m only saying it’s about time we stop ignoring the realities of drug use and make it as safe as we possibly can. Your first sentence is actually a validation of my point. Calm down the animosity and think about it. Providing Naloxone to first responders is one of the most practical and effective ways to STOP overdoses from being the leading cause of death in those under 50.
Are you saying we should NOT be doing this? What specifically will you “and many others” do?
Perhaps the most valuable thing that can be done to curb the opioid and fentanyl DEATHS of young Americans is to CONTROL our Southern Border, which is where most of the opioid , fentanyl and meth comes from…. BUT HEY, that just makes too much sense… Better to address the crisis after the ingestions and drug use has occurred which reflects our drug addicted “homeless” population as well as gives cartels and gangs the opportunity to provide a service.
DOULIE – Are you saying we should not provide assistance to those who accidentally overdose? Where did I say I was interested in any way about “the stats?” VOICE is the one bringing up the under 50 stats. My only point is that people are never going to stop doing drugs, so we need to stop ignoring them and pretending it will go away if we just throw drug users/dealers in jail.
Drug use and overdose is a reality and it’s high time (no pun intended) that we equip our first responders with the tools to help prevent death by drugs.
COAST – no one ever said do one without the other, you’re just making assumptions and ignoring the fact that humans (even in government) are able to multitask. This problem requires more than wishful thinking though. Drugs are coming in from all over and within our own borders. We can’t close up the borders and brush off our hands and say “all done, drugs are gone!” No, we have to accept reality and deal with this problem from a life saving point as well. I know it’s easy to blame Mexico for everything, but even closing the southern border completely won’t stop fentanyl. Pangas, tunnels, airplanes, submarines, oh and the CANADIAN border…..
We can’t be lazy here, we need to employ a multi-prong attack on the opioid crisis. One prong being keeping people ALIVE.
Hey, maybe you can answer this question, since VOICE and DOULIE refuse to: Are you against the police and first responders having Naloxone and other similar tools to prevent overdoses?
VOICE – show exactly where I said enforcing drug smuggling at the border should not be done.
You’re so full it, it’s scary.
Cite one study that shows a wall works. Every wall they’ve built, every style, materiel and location, has been breached and bypassed. Every one…
The only reason you talk about a wall is because FOX news talks about a wall, all the time. Why? Because it makes simple people angry. Works like a charm. However, if you actually ask an expert, or an actual Border Patrol agent, what they think and they will tell you: Walls dont work.
In fact, the only people who think a wall works are racist and idiots. Are you a racist or an idiot? Are you?
If you answer this question honestly, and take the time to reflect on it, it will change your life.
That’s silly.
OxyContin is a problem, but it does not cross the border much.
Fentanyl and Meth do.
Fentanyl is very deadly and is shipped from China, to Mexico, to US.
Bringing up Perdue and OxyContin as a rebuttal is odd.
The standard media measurements of fentanyl to kill a normal human is “two grains of salt” and “1 kilo is enough to kill 500,000 people”
In the first four months of 2021, the DEA seized 3000 kilos…. 3000 X 500,000= 1.5Billion.
Assume the flow continues at that rate, 4.5Billion
From the DEA:
Producing illicit fentanyl is not an exact science. Two milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal depending on a person’s body size, tolerance and past usage. DEA analysis has found counterfeit pills ranging from .02 to 5.1 milligrams (more than twice the lethal dose) of fentanyl per tablet.
42% of pills tested for fentanyl contained at least 2 mg of fentanyl, considered a potentially lethal dose.
Drug trafficking organizations typically distribute fentanyl by the kilogram. One kilogram of fentanyl has the potential to kill 500,000 people.
It is possible for someone to take a pill without knowing it contains fentanyl. It is also possible to take a pill knowing it contains fentanyl, but with no way of knowing if it contains a lethal dose.
According to the CDC, synthetic opioids (like fentanyl) are the primary driver of overdose deaths in the United States. Comparison between 12 months-ending January 31, 2020 and the 12 months-ending January 31, 2021 during this period:
Overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids (primarily illicitly manufactured fentanyl) rose 55.6 percent and appear to be the primary driver of the increase in total drug overdose deaths.
VOICE – still waiting on a few questions I’ve asked on multiple threads. Your silence and inability to provide evidence for your claims is tiresome. You come in, make blanket or just outright false statements, say “yes you did say that” and then nothing more.
Take a break, go enjoy your weekend, and give this whole “Reason” thing a rest. It’s really note your forte.
“You did Sac, you and many others here said do one without the other with the huge push back on any attempt to secure our southern border.” – Exactly. Now you see my point. You insinuate my opinions on things based on my opinions on other things. I NEVER said do one without the other, nor did I every say we shouldn’t “attempt to secure our southern border.” You’re just putting words in my mouth, as always.
BWahahaha! Yeah, the my opposition to a larger border wall was the same as saying don’t enforce smuggling at the border….. ok man….
VOICE – no it doesn’t. It’s hard for you to understand, I get that, but it doesn’t. Multitasking is super hard for you guys, huh?