Overdose drug to remain on city firetrucks for now
Aug. 08--Kits containing a potentially lifesaving drug administered for heroin overdoses will remain on Pittsburgh firetrucks despite what the mayor's office called an "erroneous" Friday order to remove them over concerns from the union that represents the city's paramedics.
The drug, naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan, was issued to city firefighters Wednesday, said Ralph Sicuro, a city firefighter and president of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1.
"What I care about is we have lifesaving equipment that is being removed from the hands of trained first responders," Mr. Sicuro said, adding that the drug was used Thursday night to save a patient overdosing on the South Side.
A written order from acting Fire Chief Thomas Cook that was obtained by the Post-Gazette directs all battalion chiefs to collect the kits and return them to fire headquarters "per the mayor's orders."
In a statement Friday evening, Mayor Bill Peduto's office said Kevin Acklin, the mayor's chief of staff, was asked about the use of Narcan by the paramedics union and sent an email on the subject to Public Safety Director Stephen Bucar and others. Mr. Bucar said the use of the drug was legal, and Mr. Acklin asked the city's Law Department for a review. Later, Mr. Bucar sent an email to Fire Chief Darryl Jones, requesting he "suspend issuing the Narcan to any of our firefighter crews pending the Law Department's opinion."
"At no time did administration officials call for Narcan to be removed from fire vehicles," the mayor's office said. "Approved and trained fire personnel are still allowed to use the drug to combat overdoses and it will be carried on Bureau of Fire trucks. ... The legal review of the related contract and state law matters is ongoing. Administration officials will also continue talks with fire and paramedic union leaders on the issue."
The dispute is not the first over the respective roles of firefighters and paramedics.
The paramedics union threatened a strike in 2012 over shifting rescue work, such as calls that involve extrication from vehicles, to firefighters during contract negotiations. The city finally approved a new contract with the union last year after a three-year impasse, though the accord did not resolve the discord over the rescue work, which was intended to free up paramedics and improve the city's overall emergency medical response.
"I don't want to get involved in any kind of bickering over that stuff. That is nonsense," Mr. Sicuro said. "We have one job to do, that is to save the public. We have a responsibility, an obligation to serve the citizens of Pittsburgh in the best possible way we can. To have equipment removed because of a threat of a grievance is ridiculous."
In a statement, Jeffrey Tremel, president of the paramedics union, blamed the city administration for the misunderstanding, saying the city had failed to include paramedics in public safety planning.
"While obviously it is the primary mission of all public safety departments to serve the best interest of the public, the method in which the mission is accomplished should be the joint effort of all involved," he said. "The Pittsburgh paramedics bring the highest quality of advanced life support there is to offer to our great city and simply putting advanced treatment capabilities in the hands of providers with basic level training is not the answer our city needs. Our hope is to work collectively with the city administration to more effectively allocate these resources in order to better deliver the advanced level of care our city deserves."
Dr. Karen Hacker, director of the Allegheny County Health Department, said naloxone, usually administered as a nasal spray, reverses the effects of opioids such as heroin.
"A person literally goes from barely breathing and respiratory arrest to breathing and conscious," she said, calling widespread access to naloxone for first responders, which was authorized in a law signed last year by former Gov. Tom Corbett, a "primary strategy to reduce death from overdoses."
Dr. Hacker issued a countywide standing order in May that allowed licensed pharmacies to dispense the rescue kits. Of Allegheny County's 151 overdose deaths in 2014, 142 involved opioids.
Robert Zullo: rzullo@post-gazette.com or 412-263-3909. Twitter: @rczullo.
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