Public commenter urges Medford council to require police to perform rescue breathing during overdoses

During the public comment period on July 2, an attendee urged the Medford City Council to address what they described as inadequate local overdose response by Medford Police Department and to allow trained community responders to perform rescue breathing at overdose scenes.

The commenter said MPD "refuses to do rescue breathing and interferes when others are providing rescue breathing," alleging the department relied on a misreading of an American Heart Association article. The speaker emphasized the time sensitivity of opioid overdoses, noting naloxone can take minutes and that "extensive brain damage becomes likely" after about three minutes and death may be imminent at five minutes.

The commenter asserted that many trained community responders and harm‑reduction organizations in Jackson County support rescue breathing as part of a complete overdose response recommended by federal agencies. They urged the council to prioritize the issue and to ensure police do not stop trained community members who are administering ventilations.

No formal council action followed; the comment was received and entered into the public record. Council staff did not provide a departmental response during the public comment period; the speaker said local health and harm‑reduction organizations, county health and hospitals support the position.