Humboldt Bay firefighters gathered at the department’s training classroom in Eureka this afternoon for a two-hour training session on how to administer medication to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
Currently, only the department’s eight trained paramedics can administer naloxone by injection. But changes to state law have expanded the number of personnel who can deliver the medication to a patient in the form of Narcan nasal spray, which can now be given by all firefighters who are at a minimum trained as emergency medical technicians or EMTs.
“This is very important because we have so much (opiate use) in the community and we need it as available as it can be among first responders,” said Humboldt Bay Fire Battalion Chief Tim Citro, who conducted today’s training session. “We do come across a lot of opiate, heroin, fentanyl use in our community and it’s very prevalent across the country.”