Strategy to help Manitoba first responders deal with drug crisis on the way

Do you use any drugs today? Keep it, George. What kind of drugs? First responders in Winnipeg's core answering multiple overdose calls like this, sometimes in just an hour. I don't have oxygen on me. Now the provincial government is promising to help the people who keep answering the call. We want to make sure that we're supporting the mental health of first responders. Obviously, that's a key part of my mandate. David Pankratz is the new minister responsible for first responders. In the premier's marching orders, Pankratz must create a strategy to help paramedics, law enforcement, and firefighters respond to the impact of toxic drugs by next spring. He believes connecting first responders with community organizations and health care will be key. When I worked as a firefighter, I remember working shifts where, you know, you would go out and I'd be on the squad and you'd end up doing, you know, maybe 10, 11, 12 overdose calls in a single shift. So it can be challenging. It can be exhausting to do that work over and over again. We just met with fire, EMS and RCMP. He says his own experience, and what he's hearing from first responders, will shape the province's strategy. They're on the front line of this. Kairos hopes that plan calls for more paramedics, because he says they're swamped. Many have said, like, I signed up to help people, but I didn't sign up to resuscitate someone on every call. The union president says paramedics are running from one call to the next. He believes more paramedics will give them room to breathe. Ian Fraser, CBC News, Winnipeg.