A new Windsor city councillor is asking for support for a report looking at the impacts of equipping emergency responders with naloxone.

Ward 9 councillor Kieran McKenzie will introduce a council question asking administration to develop a report about the emergency treatment for suspected opiate overdose situations.

He says Windsor is one of the last remaining medium sized cities in Ontario that does not equip its first responders with this tool.

McKenzie says he hopes to find support for this analysis.

“We are in the midst of a full-blown public health crisis in our community related to the use of opiates, the issues are literally life or death,” says McKenzie. “Across the province it is a best practice for first responders to carry and administer Naloxone when warranted.”

McKenzie says he is asking the mayor and his colleagues on council to direct administration to urgently develop a report to “help us all understand the potential benefits, the risks, the cost implications and the training requirements related to the deployment of emergency naloxone kits for our first responders.”

Windsor police chief Al Frederick has said he will not allow his officers to use the naloxone kits.

Naloxone, also sold as Narcan, is a life-saving medication used to block the effects of opioids, especially in an overdose.

McKenzie will introduce his question at the Monday, Dec. 17 meeting of Windsor city council.