In this panel, experts in pharmacy, policy and harm reduction will help answer the question “Is over-the-counter naloxone enough to stop the overdose crisis?” They will discuss what intranasal naloxone’s OTC status does and does not do, as well as important next steps for regulators and policymakers working to curb overdose deaths in their communities and across the country.
Type: Toolkit
Webinar – R Street Institute – Is Over the Counter Enough? Getting Naloxone to the People Who Need It Most
Webinar – Distributing Low Barrier Naloxone in Emergency Departments
Emergency departments can learn how to build a simple, efficient, and effective model of dispensing naloxone from the ground up in this free, archived 1-hour webinar with multiple guest speakers in collaboration with National Harm Reduction Coalition.
Comparing Projected Fatal Overdose Outcomes and Costs of Strategies to Expand Community-Based Distribution of Naloxone in Rhode Island
In this decision analytical model study evaluating the distribution of 10 000 additional naloxone kits annually in Rhode Island, the strategy focusing on distribution of naloxone according to geographic need to people who inject drugs resulted in the best outcomes at the lowest cost, averting an estimated 25.3% of opioid overdose deaths at an incremental cost of $27 312 per opioid overdose death averted.
Effects of naloxone: A post-overdose care plan
Being revived through naloxone, while lifesaving, is usually a very unpleasant experience for both the overdosed individuals and the individual who administers naloxone. This resource spells out common side effects of naloxone use on opioid-dependent people and provides a list of suggested items useful for post-overdose care.
NACo Opioid Solutions Strategy Brief: Naloxone to Reverse Opioid Overdose
This strategy brief shares basic evidence of naloxone effectiveness and also highlights innovative methods for distribution.
RTI – Optimizing naloxone distribution to prevent opioid overdose fatalities
The objective of this study was to pilot test a multi-component implementation strategy-the systems analysis and improvement approach for naloxone (SAIA-Naloxone) which included (1) analyzing program data to identify gaps in the naloxone delivery cascade, (2) flow mapping to identify causes of attrition and brainstorm programmatic changes for improvement, and (3) conducting continuous quality improvement to test and assess whether modifications improve the cascade.
Compassionate Overdose Response: Summit Highlights and Key Takeaways
Forty experts participated in consensus-building discussion on a standard of care opioid overdose response protocol. A critical message emerged: those responding to an overdose should aim to restore breathing without causing withdrawal by supporting the person’s breathing, giving low or standard doses of naloxone (0.4 mg intramuscular injection and <4 mg intranasal spray) until spontaneous breathing is restored, and creating a calm environment. Despite fluctuations in the drug supply, standard dose naloxone is effective.
Training Guide: Guide to Developing and Managing Overdose Prevention and Take Home Naloxone Projects, NHRC
Providing overdose prevention, recognition, and response education to people who use drugs, their neighbors, friends, families, and the service providers who work with them is a harm reduction intervention that saves lives. This training guide outlines the process of developing and managing an Overdose Prevention and Education Program.
Integrating supervised consumption into a continuum of care for people who use drugs
Supervised-consumption services are known to be effective in reducing drug-related harms. It is now time to move from asking whether such services are effective to asking whether, how and under what conditions their benefits can be maximized. Integrated and co-located health service models — effectively “one-stop shops” — could improve health outcomes for people who inject drugs by combining the prevention of immediate drug-related harms with access to primary care, mental health care and social service programs.
