The study reveals a 43% increase in laypeople administering opioid overdose countermeasures from 2020 to 2022.
Expanding access to naloxone, a drug commonly known as Narcan used to reverse opioid overdoses, has been a focus of numerous initiatives aimed at boosting layperson involvement.
A recent research published on Monday in JAMA Network Open revealed that between June 2020 and June 2022, emergency medical services (EMS) reported administering naloxone to 744,078 patients across the US. Although the rate of EMS-documented naloxone administration decreased by 6.1% within this period, the percentage of individuals receiving naloxone from bystanders prior to EMS arrival experienced a significant surge of 43.5%.
Chris Gage, the study's lead author and EMS Research Fellow at the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians, commented, "The fact that we saw an increase of 43.5%, it means that public health initiatives are proving effective."
Naloxone, typically administered via a nasal spray, counteracts opioid overdoses by inhibiting opioid effects. Within two to three minutes, the medication restores normal breathing in individuals whose breathing has slowed or ceased due to overdose, generally with only one dose. However, medical experts advise calling 911 whenever someone is overdosing, as they might still require medical attention even following naloxone administration.
Gage stated, "There's no actual medical education required. It's pretty much as easy as spraying Afrin up someone's nose. Our goal is just to show people that they could potentially help save someone's life."
The latest data from the CDC suggests a continuous decline in overdose-related deaths in the US, showing a downward trend of up to 10% in the past year. The study's significant increase in layperson naloxone usage highlights naloxone's expanding role in public health strategies to combat the opioid crisis, allowing bystanders with easy access to the medication to potentially administer it prior to EMS arrival.
Dr. Nabarun Dasgupta, a senior scientist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who didn't participate in the research, mentioned, "People who have reversed overdoses tend to reverse multiple overdoses. The evidence supporting naloxone's effectiveness mainly revolves around distributing the medication to individuals who use drugs and those around them."
Only 3.4% of the 744,078 naloxone recipients in the study obtained the drug from bystanders. Gage hopes that this percentage will continue to rise. Naloxone became available over-the-counter in September 2023, carrying a suggested retail price of around $45 per two-dose carton.
Gage stated, "Naloxone is a lifesaving medication. We're in the midst of an opioid crisis. Now that it's over-the-counter, there should be even more access for individuals to acquire this. If someone knows someone struggling with opioid addiction, they could potentially administer a life-saving medication."
Despite its increased availability, certain obstacles prevent some opioid users from obtaining naloxone.
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"Narcan nasal spray has been a multibillion-dollar monopoly for much of the past decade," Dasgupta said. "This has changed over the past year and a half, but states are still paying more for naloxone than they should."
He emphasized the importance of educating the general public on the substances contained in the drugs consumed by opioid users.
"There is a rapidly growing paradigm of drug checking in which we can analyze actual drug samples on the spot," Dasgupta said. "What we find is that the drug supply is often highly contaminated. Users often discard their drugs or make a decision about use based on the presence of contaminants."
Gage suggested that the findings could guide policies and practices aimed at addressing the opioid epidemic.
"If more laypeople are administering naloxone, then hopefully that means that fewer people are dying," he concluded.
The decrease in the rate of EMS-documented naloxone administration might be misleading, as the surge in layperson naloxone usage indicates that more individuals are receiving the life-saving medication before paramedics arrive. regular use of naloxone by bystanders can significantly contribute to improving overall health by reducing opioid overdose-related deaths.
