Columbia firefighters save life with overdose antidote

Chief Brad Fraizer with the Columbia Fire Department said firefighters have already saved one life from a drug overdose less than a month after the department became equipped with naloxone.

The fire department began carrying naloxone, an opioid overdose-reversing drug, on Jan. 25 and the incident happened on Feb. 20.

“We’re very happy that we had that option available,” Fraizer said. “Columbia is not immune to overdose problems.”

Frazier said it was the first time firefighters administered naloxone in an overdose call. He said the department doesn’t keep data on the type of overdose calls they respond to, but said the department has seen a steady increase in overdose calls over the past five years.

“A lot of things that we see in an overdose you might see in a medical emergency that’s not drug or alcohol related,” he said. “The biggest challenge is determining what happened, what did they take, how much did they take and when did they take it.”

Second ward city council member Michael Trapp pushed for the city to approve the $11,000 price tag to provide the fire and police department with naloxone.

“To have done something that directly saved a life feels pretty good,” he said.

On Monday, the city council unanimously approved to join with St. Louis County’s prescription drug monitoring program. Missouri is the only state in the country without a system that requires pharmacists to keep track of how often a person is given certain types of medications like Oxycontin and Percocet.

“That’s going to improve the quality of medicine, it’s going to identify people that need substance abuse treatment and it’s going to stop accidental overdoses,” Trapp said. “I truly believe this is a measure that’s going to save lives.”