• Posted October 14, 2024

More Bystanders Are Using Naloxone to Save Folks From Overdose

More bystanders are stepping in to administer naloxone to people who’ve overdosed on opioids, a new study shows.

Nearly 25,000 OD patients received naloxone from an untrained bystander before paramedics arrived, according to emergency medical services records from June 2020 to June 2022.

“Our findings revealed that people receiving naloxone from laypersons increased by 43.5%, proving that public health efforts are working,” said researcher Chris Gage, a doctoral student at the Ohio State University College of Public Health.

However, researchers also noted that more work needs to be done to improve awareness of naloxone, based on the EMS data.

Only about 3% of all OD patients who received naloxone got it from non-medical bystanders, results show.

“In a perfect world, this should be closer to a 100%, highlighting a need to improve naloxone education, enhance access and investigate and remove obstacles to its use,” Gage said in a news release.

Naloxone rapidly reverses an overdose by blocking opioid receptors in the body. 

“Naloxone is a lifesaving medication that can reverse opioid overdose effects when given immediately,” said senior researcher Dr. Ashish Panchal, a clinical professor of emergency medicine at Ohio State University. “Similar to CPR, stepping up to help before emergency crews arrive can be the difference between life and death.”

During the past decade, there’s been an ongoing campaign to improve access to and awareness of naloxone, researchers said.

Last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved over-the-counter sales of naloxone, and the drug is frequently prescribed whenever someone is prescribed narcotics for medical purposes like pain relief.

In addition, 46 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws that provide legal immunity for Good Samaritans who step in to help someone having an opioid overdose, researchers noted.

Future research will look into groups that make naloxone available to bystanders, and how to make sure the drug is available for patients in need, the team said.

The new study was published in the journal JAMA Network Open.

More information

The National Institute on Drug Abuse has more about naloxone.

SOURCE: Ohio State University, news release, Oct. 14, 2024