JimSpoor
03-05-2003, 10:36
Patient, heal thyself:
March 5, 2003
Addicts to give anti-overdose
drugs
BALTIMORE (AP) — Health officials will start a
program in the spring that will allow addicts to administer
Narcan, a drug that can revive a person near death from a
heroin overdose.
Vials of Narcan — used by paramedics and hospital
personnel to treat opium-based narcotics overdoses — will
be distributed beginning May 1 after a group of 50 addicts is
trained.
Training began last week for emergency services and
health officials who will teach addict-rescuers basic medical
protocol with the drug, syringes, resuscitation techniques and
other lifesaving methods.
In the past four years, more than 1,000 people have died
from heroin overdoses in Baltimore, officials said. In
Maryland in 2001, 516 persons died from heroin overdoses.
"There is a chronic problem here," said Dr. Peter L.
Beilenson, Baltimore health commissioner. "A significant
number of people are dying each year from heroin overdoses
— in one year, more than the homicide rate — and while this
may be viewed as enabling, this is a worthwhile attempt to
keep people alive."
Supporters of the Narcan program said lives have been
saved in other heroin trouble spots in the nation and world.
But critics say the city's plan sends a mixed message to
Baltimore's estimated 60,000 addicts.
"The Narcan program sanctions heroin addiction," said
Michael W. Gimbel, former director of Baltimore County's
bureau of substance abuse and a former heroin addict. "It's
like the city has given up."
Critics also wonder whether addict-rescuers can retain the
necessary information about varying doses of Narcan needed
for different overdose scenarios, all involving life-and-death
decisions. There also are questions of whether a heroin user,
high on the narcotic, can efficiently administer Narcan to a
dying member of their shooting party.
Under the program, addict-rescuers will be given vials of
Narcan and syringes. After recognizing an unconscious user
experiencing difficulty breathing, the addict-rescuer will be
expected to fill a syringe with a specific dose of Narcan and
properly administer it.
City officials say the innovative program will save lives and
cut the 1,800 emergency calls the Fire Department receives
each year to revive overdosed addicts.
The National Drug Intelligence Center of the U.S.
Department of Justice said in an August report that Baltimore
"has one of the most serious heroin abuse problems in the
nation."
Dr. Beilenson said the Narcan project will be
accompanied by thousands of educational brochures, some
of which have been distributed to addicts, detailing lifesaving
steps such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation and how to inject
Narcan into a muscle, and instructing them to summon
paramedics.
Some paramedics and emergency room personnel said
that while Narcan can keep down heroin mortality rates,
rarely do addicts revived with the drug seek treatment to end
their addiction. Instead, they usually return to the drug dealer
who sold them the high-quality heroin that nearly led to their
deaths.
Narcan, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration in 1971, works by blocking opiates from brain
receptors.
The program is funded for two years by a $300,000
grant, Dr. Beilenson said. Most of the money comes from the
Open Society Institute, a private foundation started by
financier George Soros. The institute is based in New York
and operates in 30 other countries.
Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley declined to comment
on the Narcan program.
If it can be administered by addicts perhaps it should be placed in more BLS protocols?
March 5, 2003
Addicts to give anti-overdose
drugs
BALTIMORE (AP) — Health officials will start a
program in the spring that will allow addicts to administer
Narcan, a drug that can revive a person near death from a
heroin overdose.
Vials of Narcan — used by paramedics and hospital
personnel to treat opium-based narcotics overdoses — will
be distributed beginning May 1 after a group of 50 addicts is
trained.
Training began last week for emergency services and
health officials who will teach addict-rescuers basic medical
protocol with the drug, syringes, resuscitation techniques and
other lifesaving methods.
In the past four years, more than 1,000 people have died
from heroin overdoses in Baltimore, officials said. In
Maryland in 2001, 516 persons died from heroin overdoses.
"There is a chronic problem here," said Dr. Peter L.
Beilenson, Baltimore health commissioner. "A significant
number of people are dying each year from heroin overdoses
— in one year, more than the homicide rate — and while this
may be viewed as enabling, this is a worthwhile attempt to
keep people alive."
Supporters of the Narcan program said lives have been
saved in other heroin trouble spots in the nation and world.
But critics say the city's plan sends a mixed message to
Baltimore's estimated 60,000 addicts.
"The Narcan program sanctions heroin addiction," said
Michael W. Gimbel, former director of Baltimore County's
bureau of substance abuse and a former heroin addict. "It's
like the city has given up."
Critics also wonder whether addict-rescuers can retain the
necessary information about varying doses of Narcan needed
for different overdose scenarios, all involving life-and-death
decisions. There also are questions of whether a heroin user,
high on the narcotic, can efficiently administer Narcan to a
dying member of their shooting party.
Under the program, addict-rescuers will be given vials of
Narcan and syringes. After recognizing an unconscious user
experiencing difficulty breathing, the addict-rescuer will be
expected to fill a syringe with a specific dose of Narcan and
properly administer it.
City officials say the innovative program will save lives and
cut the 1,800 emergency calls the Fire Department receives
each year to revive overdosed addicts.
The National Drug Intelligence Center of the U.S.
Department of Justice said in an August report that Baltimore
"has one of the most serious heroin abuse problems in the
nation."
Dr. Beilenson said the Narcan project will be
accompanied by thousands of educational brochures, some
of which have been distributed to addicts, detailing lifesaving
steps such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation and how to inject
Narcan into a muscle, and instructing them to summon
paramedics.
Some paramedics and emergency room personnel said
that while Narcan can keep down heroin mortality rates,
rarely do addicts revived with the drug seek treatment to end
their addiction. Instead, they usually return to the drug dealer
who sold them the high-quality heroin that nearly led to their
deaths.
Narcan, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration in 1971, works by blocking opiates from brain
receptors.
The program is funded for two years by a $300,000
grant, Dr. Beilenson said. Most of the money comes from the
Open Society Institute, a private foundation started by
financier George Soros. The institute is based in New York
and operates in 30 other countries.
Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley declined to comment
on the Narcan program.
If it can be administered by addicts perhaps it should be placed in more BLS protocols?