Imagine finding a loved one unconscious. They’ve overdosed and now on the verge of life or death… you rush to call 9-1-1.
In Yakima County, the only first responders equipped with a drug-reversal treatment are the paramedics and that could be a problem.
"Paramedics generally speaking are not going to be the first ones there and in fact the paramedics typically are trailing law enforcement officers and fire fighters by quite a few minutes because the paramedics are responding from the base stations that might be in town in the Yakima Valley,” said Mike Russell from the Yakima County Sheriff’s Department.
According to Yakima County Emergency Medical Services, that could change with talks of adopting a new training program and getting both fire fighters, paramedics, and possibly police trained and ready to act.
"Our goal is always save lives, that's our bread and butter, we care about the citizens of Yakima County and so anything that would help us to achieve that we're in favor of,” said Russell.