More bystanders are using naloxone to prevent people from overdosing on opioids.
Naloxone, commonly called by its brand name Narcan, reverses the effect of an opioid overdose. And while EMTS have used the life-saving medicine for years, there鈥檚 been a decade-long push to increase its use among people with no medical training.
It seems to be working. Ohio State University researchers . They found that, between 2020 and 2022, there was a 43% increase in naloxone鈥檚 use among lay people.
鈥淭hat's dramatic for any intervention. So it means that the word is getting out and people are starting to get it in their hands,鈥� said Ashish Panchal, one of the study鈥檚 researchers.
While Panchal said this jump signifies major progress, the study also showed that bystander-prevented overdoses are still relatively rare. Laypeople used naloxone in only around 3% of 911 calls involving opioid overdoses, according to the study.
鈥淲e really need to amp up what we're doing so that we can reach into the communities and continue to save lives,鈥� Panchal said. 鈥淭his is a good sign. It's the first sign we're getting a good pulse check. But we need to do more.鈥�
Progress in public health聽
In the last decade, there has been a big push to get naloxone in the hands of more people. As the opioid overdose epidemic worsened, Panchal said emergency responders realized that bystanders are a necessary part of saving lives.
鈥淭he sooner we get there, just like CPR, the sooner we start, the sooner we can actually start saving a life,鈥� Panchal said. 鈥淪o when we moved forward with our public awareness campaigns, one of the biggest things was to get Narcan in the hands of the people who could actually use it. That's the bystanders, the people who are there who can now become lay rescuers and give the medication earlier.鈥�
Last year, Naloxone was , opening up even wider distribution of the medicine. Panchal said he believes it鈥檚 making a difference. For the first time in a long time, Ohio is seeing a drop in overdose deaths.
鈥淲e believe that [naloxone availability] may be part of the picture, but the picture is so large that we do not have causation,鈥� Panchal said. 鈥淲e don't know that answer yet. But the bundle of care that we're providing is good and it's working.鈥�
Increasing education
In Ohio, there are naloxone vending machines, naloxone in school classrooms, on college campuses and . Now, Panchal said the state should also focus on targeting high-risk populations and increasing education on how to use naloxone to respond to an overdose.
Many times, Panchal said people are afraid to respond 鈥� out of fear of doing something wrong or bringing further harm to the situation. He wants more Ohioans to feel confident in their ability to prevent an overdose.
鈥淎s we start increasing the education that we give to the communities as a whole, we will expect to see an increase in the use of the medication,鈥� Panchal said.
Slow breathing, paleness and purple fingernails or lips are all common signs of an overdose, according to .Panchal encourages people to err on the side of intervening and administering naloxone. The medication will not harm anyone, even if they are not overdosing. But, if they are, Panchal said, it could save their life.
鈥淥ne of the most important things that we as a community need to learn is that we are part of this community,鈥� Panchal said. 鈥淲e are the people who are going to change lives. We need to get engaged, get active and be the people on the front lines ourselves.鈥�
