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Report: 24 percent of paramedics in Canadian province can’t give Narcan

EMRs are also unable to start intravenous lines or administer nitroglycerin or glycogen

By EMS1 Staff

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Nearly a quarter of Manitoba’s paramedics aren’t authorized to administer Narcan, a statistic officials tribute to a province-wide lack of training.

According to numbers from Manitoba Health, 24 percent of the 2,507 licensed paramedics in the province are unable to administer naloxone or perform other duties. Only primary and advanced care paramedics can perform the duties.

“[Naloxone] is on the trucks, it’s on the ambulances, it’s there,” Michelle Gawronsky, the president of the Manitoba Government General Employees Union, told CBC. “We just don’t have enough [primary care paramedics] to administer it.”

Emergency medical responders are considered the most basic of three levels of paramedics and can’t administer the drug.

“There’s not enough training to be offered,” Gawronsky said. “To be able to maintain services in rural Manitoba, they are doing it by maintaining the EMR levels out there and keeping the ambulances running.”

EMRs are also unable to start intravenous lines, administer nitroglycerin or glycogen.

The Paramedic Association of Manitoba has issued a directive stating that all primary care paramedics must be able to administer naloxone by January 2017.

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