The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) announced Friday night it plans to resume an investigation into the use of ketamine during emergency medical situations.

The department initially announced a review of the state’s ketamine waiver program in 2020, but paused the process to reassess the purpose and scope in deference to other ongoing investigations, according to a media release from CDPHE.

“This more clearly defined scope will allow us to do a review that examines the health outcomes of ketamine administration by (Emergency Management Service) providers in the field, broadly,” Jill Hunsaker Ryan, the executive director for CDPHE, said in the release.

The probe will now be focusing more on the program as a whole rather than individual incidents, such as the Elijah McClain case.

The use of ketamine on individuals drew a national spotlight following the Aurora Fire Rescue use of the sedation drug on McClain, a 23 year-old Black man, who later died after being detained while on his way home from a convenience store in August 2019.

In September, the Aurora City Council unanimously voted to temporarily ban the use of ketamine by first responders to sedate people.

A review committee put together by CDPHE will include chief medical officers, EMS providers, pharmacists, ER doctors, anesthesiologists and others.

Currently, through the state’s waiver program, EMS providers can obtain permission for paramedics to use the sedative outside of a hospital setting.

Over the past three years, ketamine has been used in 902 instances of “excited delirium and/or extreme or profound agitation,” according to the release.

The investigation is ongoing and health officials will not release any more information until a final report is published.