Welcome to another one of those posts you hope you never need to use. Today we’ll be talking about how to use naloxone (including brand names Narcan and Evzio) to help somebody who has overdosed on opioids like heroin or prescription painkillers.
What Is Naloxone?
Naloxone is a drug that can reverse an opioid overdose. You can give it as a shot in the thigh, or a puff up the nose. In about two minutes it can take a person from unconscious and barely breathing to sitting up and talking to you.
It works by blocking the brain’s receptors for opioids. (Opioids include heroin, fentanyl, morphine, codeine, and prescription painkillers like Oxycontin.) Opioids stimulate these receptors on the brain, and when there’s enough of an opioid in somebody’s system, they can overwhelm the part of the brain that’s responsible for breathing.
Naloxone crowds the opioid out of the brain’s receptors, but it doesn’t depress breathing or create a high. If you find somebody unresponsive and you’re not sure if they were taking opioids, that’s totally fine: naloxone is still safe to give them.
Who Can Use It?
If you think you might ever witness somebody overdosing, you should know how to use naloxone and you should consider obtaining some. Using naloxone is something a bystander can do, just like first aid or CPR.
So maybe you have a friend or family member who uses opioids. Or maybe you’re putting together emergency plans for an event or organization. (For example, music festivals in Ottowa can’t get a permit unless they show that they’re prepared to administer naloxone.) You can get your own supply of naloxone, and keep it around in case you ever need it.
How Do You Get It?
Naloxone would normally be a prescription drug, but all 50 states have some kind of law to make it easier to obtain. These laws typically let you walk into a pharmacy and either the pharmacist can prescribe it, or there is a standing order that acts like a prescription anyone can fill.
In some states, community organizations can pass out naloxone to people at risk. Use this tool to find an overdose prevention group near you, or check with your local health department.
If you think you’re at risk of overdosing, you can get naloxone for yourself, and then make sure your friends and family members know how to use it. (You should also take other steps to reduce your risk of overdose, including seeking treatment. But yes, get naloxone too.)
You can also get naloxone in your name, with the understanding that it’s not for you. So you don’t have to ask for “some naloxone for my sister who has a problem,” you just get it for yourself and you’re free to use it on your sister, or on her friend who passes out in your living room, or on the guy who overdoses next to you on the bus.
How Much Does It Cost?
Sometimes you can get naloxone for free through an…
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