Everyone needs to know how to obtain and administer Naloxone. With drug overdoses being the leading cause of accidental death in the US, its critical that people obtain a Naloxone prescription and learn how to administer it. In 2015 there were more than 30,000 lethal opioid overdoses in the US. There are now more deaths from overdose than car accidents and murders. It’s the equivalent of a jumbo jet crash a week.
What can you do to help? Get yourself trained to administer Naloxone and keep it in your home or with you at all times. Naloxone is a medication that when administered can reverse an overdose and save a person’s life. Until recently it was only being used by emergency medical technicians, nurses or doctors because it was only in an injectible form. Recently however it has been formulated into a nasal spray so anyone can easily use it and save the life of someone overdosing.
MATClinics recommends that everyone take a training, either online or in person. You can google a local live training or take an online one. Here is a link to a good online training.
Baltimore City has been very effective at getting the rescue medication Naloxone into it’s residents' hands and training people how to use it. As of today The Baltimore City Health Department has trained 17,514 people how to save someone if they overdose on an opiate. To keep tabs on this always increasing number or find a convenient training for you, go to their website.
Dr. Leana Wen, the Baltimore City Health Commissioner, has issued a standing prescription so that anyone can print it out and go to a pharmacy to obtain this life saving medication. Here is the link to obtain that prescription. Just print it out and bring it to your local pharmacy. Sometimes your pharmacy won't have it in stock, but they can always get it within a day or two.
Once you’ve printed the prescription just go to your pharmacy and fill it. It’s that simple. Take the training and print and fill the prescription. You never know if you could be the one to save someone’s life.