Village of Colfax approves naloxone (Narcan®) agreement with Elk Mound Police Department
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — It’s a win-win situation for both agencies.
The Colfax Village Board at the January 27 meeting approved an agreement between the Colfax Rescue Squad and the Elk Mound Police Department for Colfax to supply naloxone to Elk Mound.
Naloxone, also known as the brand name Narcan®, is a medication identified as an “opioid antagonist” that will reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, such as morphine or other opioid pain medication, or heroin.
Elk Mound Police Chief Chad Weinberger approached the Colfax Rescue Squad about having an agreement for the supply of naloxone, said Don Knutson, director of the Colfax Rescue Squad.
The cost for one dose of naloxone is between $70 and $80, he noted.
Under the agreement, the Elk Mound Police Department will purchase the initial supply of naloxone from the Colfax Rescue Squad. After that, when Elk Mound needs to restock on naloxone, the Colfax Rescue Squad will invoice the patients who were given the naloxone, Knutson explained.
The Eau Claire fire department has a similar agreement with the Eau Claire Police Department, he said.
Under the agreement, the Elk Mound Police Department only needs to purchase the initial dose and will save money by not having to purchase an additional supply of naloxone, and the Colfax Rescue Squad will be reimbursed for the doses that are actually used, Knutson said.
In addition, because naloxone has a two-year shelf life, it makes sense to have two agencies using the supply rather than the naloxone sitting in Colfax until it expires, and then the drug must be disposed of, he said.
Naloxone is beneficial to have at the disposal of someone who is likely to be the first on the scene of an overdose, Knutson said.
“The faster you administer it, the faster you can get someone breathing again,” he said.
The Colfax Rescue Squad could do a similar agreement with the Colfax Police Department if Police Chief William Anderson would like to have an agreement, Knutson said.
No Rx
No prescription is needed to obtain naloxone from a pharmacy, and anyone can walk in and get it from a pharmacist, Knutson said.
Because naloxone works so well to reverse an overdose, a doctor who has prescribed a pain medication might also prescribe naloxone to also go home with the patient “just in case,” he said.
Fire departments and police departments were approved by the state legislature to use naloxone a couple of years ago, Knutson said.
People with an opioid addiction are not the only people who can benefit from naloxone.
Think of your grandmother, who has a “shoe box full of pills” — she takes the wrong pill at the wrong time or takes too many pain pills and overdoses, and the naloxone can reverse that, Knutson said.
Patients who have had surgery that requires a strong narcotic pain medication to control the pain can also be at risk of overdosing because they take doses too close together or take a dose, and because of the narcotic effect of the medication, forget they took the first dose and take another one.
Budget
Scott Gunnufson, village president, wondered if the naloxone agreement would have an impact on the Colfax Rescue Squad’s budgeting process.
The Elk Mound Police Department will buy the initial dose, and subsequent doses will be invoiced to patients, so “I don’t see a negative on our side,” Knutson said.
Gunnufson also asked about training on the use of naloxone for the Elk Mound Police Department.
The officers in Elk Mound are already trained on the use of naloxone, and the only difference will be in the dispenser and how it is used, Knutson said.
April 24 will be “drug take back day,” and all of the Elk Mound police officers will be in Elk Mound that day, so Knutson said he would do training for them then on the use of the naloxone dispenser.
Since the officers already know how to use the naloxone, the training on how to dispense it should only take 30 minutes or less, he said.
The Colfax Village Board unanimously approved the memorandum of understand for opioid antagonists between the Colfax Rescue Squad and the Elk Mound Police Department.
Village Trustee Carey Davis was absent from the meeting.
Other business
In other business, the Colfax Village Board:
• Approved training requests for Rand Bates, director of public works, and Don Logslett and Mitch Kreutzer, public works employees, to attend a half day training session in Eau Claire sponsored by First Supply Hydrant on February 26. The training session will earn each employee four “continuing education units” (CEUs) and will count toward their annual training requirements.
• Approved a bartender operator’s license for Andrew Deraad, Colfax Health and Rehabilitation Center. The license was for the facility’s annual beer and wine tasting held January 25. Deraad’s license will cover from January 27 to June 30, 2020. Several village board members questioned that the license was being issued “after the fact.” Deraad had completed the training, and the Colfax Police Department had completed the background check, so a provisional license was issued for January 25, said Lynn Niggemann, village administrator-clerk-treasurer.
• Approved the 2020 mobile home park license for Don and Marcia Henderson for City View Villa Court. The license allows a maximum of 54 units on the 10.65 acre parcel. The license fee is $100 for every 50 units, so the fee paid by the Hendersons was pro-rated for the additional four units, Niggemann said.
Closed session
Following a closed session, the Colfax Village Board agreed that the Department of Public Works would figure out a flexible work schedule for four 10-hour days for the months of May through October and also would check into becoming part of the high school intern program.
It was not clear from the meeting notice, “Closed session pursuant to WI Statutes 19.85(1)(c) considering the employment, promotion, compensation or performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises authority” why the village board met in closed session.
General scheduling and a high school intern program would be more properly discussed in open session since the topics are not dealing with specific employees. If, for example, one employee wanted flexible scheduling so the fifth day could be used for medical treatment, the village board could properly close that section of the meeting to talk about the employee’s medical treatments but would have to go into open session again to discuss general scheduling.
