She was as close to dead as one can be without actually dying. When I arrived on scene, she was unconscious, blue in color and had agonal breath sounds. She was only breathing one or two times per minute.
I hit her with Narcan. After a couple of minutes she began breathing more regularly. It took her about 10 minutes to regain consciousness.
Source: The Heroin Epidemic, Narcan, and First Aid for Opioid Overdoses | Active Response Training
Go read the whole thing and then get back.
This is one that we should seriously think about. Narcan is available in many states (Florida included) as Over The Counter medication and it has a shelf life of 18 to 24 months. I checked with Greg and he said his Narcan pamphlet says it shouldn’t be kept above 85 degrees but he is sure his patrol car got hotter. However, we down here in beautiful SoFla would almost double that in a nice sunny summer day, so I am gonna go with the idea of keeping it indoors or in the car only when the AC is running.
Price will depend on your location. According to GoodRX.com, with their coupons prices may fluctuate from $30 to $38 in my area for a 2 ml syringe. Next would be training and if you can’t have somebody teach you, there are a ton of videos in Youtube by professionals that will give you a darn good idea on what to do. It is not that difficult as long as you remember that if you are under pressure, your fine motor skills will be out the window and you need to pace yourself.
If you think about it, it is an amazing thing that we have the possibility to bring somebody back from certain death with tools that are available to the non-professional. Let us not waste that.
PS: Addicts rescued with Narcan, sometimes get combative when they wake up. Plan accordingly.
Oh yeah, wear gloves BEFORE you touch them or anything that might have been theirs. And maybe burn your clothes afterwards. Ok, the last part might be a bit much…
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2017/06/06/dea-warning-police-first-responders-accidental-overdose-risk-amid-opioid-crisis.html
“…sometimes get combative when they wake up.” Nope. Speaking as an ex Detroit ER nurse, COUNT on them getting combative. The phrase ” stand off distance” doesn’t only apply to air-to-air missiles!
How many states have good Samaritan laws, and would they cover this?
You have to check out your state. I found some websites with alleged info but found inaccuracies with Florida. We have a very friendly Good Samaritan law plus an specific law for naloxone (381.887 Emergency treatment for suspected opioid overdose.) and still they say Florida does not have protection.
It seems like all the bad things from the 1960’s and 1970’s are making another appearance. The endless low level overseas war, the street protests against the Republican President, and now wide spread heroin and other narcotics. 60,000 overdose DEATHS last year. Sixty Thousand. A good sized city died last year.
Soon, I expect we will see the resurgence of the Domestic Terrorist, like the Weathermen, SLA, and BLA in the 1970’s. The hard core Anti-FA are probably picking out the true believers already, and getting them ready to move underground. As if the Islamics aren’t bad enough?
Lemme bring you a memory from back then: Black September.