Weekly Update
Fire/EMS and Law Enforcement Partner to Respond to Opioid Overdoses

Opioid and heroin related overdose deaths have risen nearly 500% in Milwaukee County since 2005. In fact, the Milwaukee County Medical Examiners Office is projecting nearly 400 deaths will be related to overdoses of those substances in Milwaukee County during 2017.

North Shore Fire/Rescue EMS Providers have experienced the increase first-hand in all seven communities protected by the Department. 

Heroin and opioid overdoses can quickly lead to unconsciousness and stop a person's breathing. The only way to reverse this condition is through the administration of Narcan. Over the past few months, North Shore Fire/Rescue has been working with the seven North Shore Police Departments to deploy Narcan via police officers on patrol. Police officers are often times first on scene of overdoses based on the joint law enforcement and fire/rescue response to overdoses and can administer Narcan quickly, thus improving survivability rates of overdose victims. Officers also carry Narcan for their own safety. Officers across the Country have been accidently exposed to deadly doses of opioids as part of their investigations of a crime and have needed to be revived using Narcan.

The deployment of Narcan with law enforcement is a joint initiative of the police departments, North Shore Fire/Rescue and Milwaukee County EMS.
Weekly Summary
  • A roll-over accident at W. Good Hope Rd. and I-43 injured three people on August 25. 
  • A 42 year old man was resuscitated with Narcan at an apartment in Glendale on August 28.
  • Chief Whitaker and Finance Director KateLynn Schmitt presented information on the Department's Long Range Financial Plan to the Glendale Common Council on Monday August 28.
  • The Department trained more than 100 Shorewood School District Staff Members in CPR as part of the District's return to school training and meetings. Statistics show that survival rates double or triple when effective bystander CPR is administered to cardiac arrest victims prior to EMS arrival.
Calls for Service This Week
 
Incident Type
Incident Count
Fire/Rescue/Service
Weekly Average (2016)
35
44
Emergency Medical
Weekly Average (2016)
104
114
 
Priority 1 & 2 Calls
Meeting Response Goal of 7:02
90%
(goal of 90%)
Average Response Time
Priority 1 & 2 Calls
5 minutes 15 seconds
(goal of 6 minutes)

*Priority 1 & 2 calls are calls for service which the Department sends an initial responding unit to a scene with lights and sirens operating. Priority 3 calls are responses that are considered non-emergent.


Documents of Interest





2017 Department Strategic Plan 
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