Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes told the Fort Worth City Council that last year, patrol officers responded to 98 calls for overdoses of fentanyl. Of those calls, at least 6 resulted in a fatality.
With fentanyl being as deadly as it is, police, fire, and other first responders including those from MedStar ambulance service are teaming up to devise strategies for combatting the crisis. That includes educating teachers, administrators, and counselors on how to recognize dangerous drugs like fentanyl.
Since 2017, the Fort Worth Police Department has issued 357 individual dose kits of Narcan, of which officers have administered 22 of them in the field. And since September, police have taken full advantage of a new state law.
Last month, the department was among the first in the state to indict a suspected fentanyl dealer for murder.
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