More Laypeople Saving Lives with Opioid Overdose Antidote

Did you know that more people without medical training are saving lives by using naloxone, a drug that reverses opioid overdoses? A recent study found that from 2020 to 2022, the use of this antidote by laypeople rose by 43%. This is great news, as it might be one reason why opioid overdose deaths in the US decreased for the first time since 2018. Naloxone, also known as Narcan, is easy to use. It comes as a nasal spray and can restore breathing within a few minutes. The best part? You don't need any special training to use it. Just spray it up someone's nose if you think they're overdosing.

The study looked at over 744,000 people who received naloxone. While emergency services gave it to most people, the number of laypeople administering it before emergency workers arrived increased by 43.5%. This shows that efforts to make naloxone more available are working. But there's still work to do. Only 3.4% of people in the study got naloxone from a layperson. And even though naloxone is now available over the counter, some people still can't access it due to its cost or lack of education about its use. Experts say that people who save someone once are likely to do it again. So, the more naloxone we get into the hands of those who need it, the more lives we can save. Let's keep pushing to make naloxone widely available and teach people how to use it.

Actions