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The withdrawal program, which Cowan said is the first of its kind in the country, sees overdose patients taken directly to a treatment site, so long as they aren’t suffering complications.

It’s helped to break a pattern with the Blood Tribe that would often see patients overdosing again not long after being released from the hospital.

Cowan hopes to see the program better funded, not only for the Tribe.

“I think the province and the federal government (need to look at this) as a really great option — we’re trying to prove ourselves right now,” he said. “I think it’s a great solution and an innovative use of emergency services, too.

“There’s never been this option available before (on the reserve). We’re allowing every individual we pick up on the reserve that has overdosed an opportunity to withdraw.”

The NDP had committed $2.2 million over two years to the tribe — something Cowan said left him speechless.

Last November one of the doctors on the reserve, Esther Tailfeathers, said carfentanil was largely to blame for some of the overdose issues.

The drug, 100 times more potent than fentanyl, flooded the reserve.

In turn, front-line paramedics found themselves forced to administer more and more of the overdose antidote naloxone to curb the effects of opioid overdoses.

“Usually, the naloxone kits have three vials of 0.4 (mg/mL) of naloxone in the vials, but it has been taking six to eight vials of naloxone to revive some patients,” Tailfeathers told Postmedia last November.

“(Drug dealers) bring the really potent stuff in and they’re out of the community in hours. We start seeing overdoses almost immediately.”

zlaing@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @zjlaing