It’s estimated that one hundred and seventy-five people die from opioid overdoses daily in our country. Naloxone can save lives, if there when needed, but the window of time is very short. Brain damage is likely if help doesn’t arrive within four to six minutes of an overdose; and most victims do not survive more than ten minutes.
A recent review of EMS records from 485 agencies across the United States showed average response times of seven-minutes in urban settings compared to 14 minutes in rural settings. On today’s show, we’ll talk about combining three programs to make naloxone more readily available as a community initiative to help those who have overdosed.
Most of our listeners are probably aware of Project DAWN (Deaths Avoided with Naloxone). We introduced Project DAWN to our listeners in episode 10. The Program, which launched 2013 in Ohio, provides Naloxone Training and DAWN Kits containing a free sample of Naloxone and instructions to anyone in the community who attends the 30-minute training.
With so many people overdosing in public places today, why not place Naloxone, the lifesaving opioid overdose reversal drug, in public places just as defibrillators are today. Our guest in episode 112 did just that. Dr. Geoffrey Capraro, an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Brown University developed what he named the NaloxBox. Inspired by the proliferation of AEDs for heart attacks, the NaloxBox kits contain Naloxone and tools like a breathing device along with instructions to save a life. By placing these devices in public places, people who wouldn’t otherwise make it, get a second chance for recovery. NaloxBox is now available for purchase online at NaloxBox.Org.
In today’s episode, we’ll introduce a free app that can link anyone in need to the naloxone carrier nearest to them. This new app is called NaloxoFind, and it will enable anyone to locate all registered naloxone carriers and registered NaloxBox locations within a 2 mile radius of their location. The app is free and available via the iTunes app store and Google Play.
Listen to this podcast to learn how your community can become a Community of First Responders by registering naloxone carriers and downloading the NaloxoFind app for free.
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