Council reviews emergency medical transport ordinance as residents cite fentanyl crisis

The Spokane City Council heard public comment and briefings on an ordinance to update the city's emergency medical transport regulations, and a downtown resident urged the council to address the fentanyl overdose crisis alongside the ordinance update.

The ordinance (listed on the agenda as Ordinance C36668) would amend multiple sections of the Spokane Municipal Code related to emergency medical transport. Will Hewlings, a downtown resident who spoke during public comment, said the ordinance update is technically sound but urged elected officials to address the "real emergency tearing the city apart," naming the fentanyl overdose crisis and its toll on first responders: "I wish you guys would address that when it comes to our precious, first responders," he told the council.

Why it matters: the ordinance governs how emergency medical transport is provided citywide and affects response practices for a wide range of medical emergencies, from heart attacks to overdoses.

Hewlings described frequent overdoses downtown and said first responders repeatedly encounter people who refuse medical services after being revived. A council member (unnamed in the transcript) responded that they supported the ordinance and noted the importance of transport for all medical emergencies, saying it was "just as important to the person that's having a heart attack as it is to the person who's dying from fentanyl." The council member told the meeting they would vote in support and prepared to move the item forward; the transcript does not record a final vote.

The discussion linked the ordinance update to broader public-safety and public-health concerns triggered by drug overdoses and homelessness, but the ordinance text in the meeting focuses on aligning local code with state rules and modernizing transport procedures. No final ordinance adoption or vote appears in the transcript excerpt.