2017 Annual Meeting

In this session, particpants will:

1. Learn about creating an opioid overdose education/ naloxone distribution program. 

2. Learn how to secure materials needed to reproduce this program int heir own programs. 

3. Learn how to better navigate obstabcles 

Last year over 33,000 people in U.S. died from an opioid related drug overdose. Less than 100 of those deaths occurred in Erie County, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately this is not a new topic of concern, and has been plaguing our country for last decade or so. And while states and counties all over the country are doing their best to combat the issue, there are still improvements to be made.

With drug and alcohol treatment professionals handling the treatment aspect and law enforcement along with emergency room department workers identifying clients for treatment, there continues to be a lack of prevention efforts. And with many drug and alcohol specialist and law enforcement tackling this issue, where do public health officials fit in? Where does injury prevention fit in?  In an effort to fill the prevention  gap the Injury Prevention Coordinator at the Erie County Department of Health created an Opioid Overdose Education/ Naloxone Distribution Program (OOEND) to educate community members, and drug and alcohol specialist on the dangers surrounding opioids, signs and symptoms of an overdose and how to administer naloxone properly.

Erie County, Pennsylvania was not completely lacking in prevention efforts. The county did have a medication return unit program, poison prevention for children, and medication management sessions. Regrettably this is where most of the prevention efforts ceased. With input from partners from local law enforcement agencies and drug and alcohol specialists, it was discovered that there was a lack of knowledge surrounding the dangers of opioids and surprising naloxone and how to properly use it amongst community members and professionals in the field.  Therefore our comprehensive OOEND program was created.  Working with Dr. Jenine Simmons from the Get Naloxone Now project, an in person opioid overdose education and Naloxone distribution program was created. This program includes a presentation about opioids, the effect on the brain, and the consequences of misuse. Next it proceeds in detail about what to do if you are in the presence of someone experiencing an opioid overdose (protocol). Then the individual learns how to properly use all three forms of Naloxone (Naloxone HCL (nasal/ Intramuscular), NARCAN, and EVZIO) utilizing demonstration kits. Depending on the setting, Community vs. Agency/Professionals, protocol and policy samples are distributed. A mini workshop on how to implement a best practice naloxone protocol/ policy at an agency is given, along with additional resources to help get them started. It is then strongly recommended that a copy of the protocol and/or policy is sent to the Injury Prevention Coordinator. Once the policy is reviewed for best practice standards the agency receives a free Naloxone kit. Once this dose is utilized or expired the agency is responsible for securing an additional one. Funding for the first set of kits were through our block grant funds, however additional kits will be purchased through grants, and in collaboration with our district attorney’s office.

Over 300 people have been trained utilizing this method including pharmacy students, drug and alcohol professionals, and lay persons. We have distributed 3 kits to agencies and 30 kits to lay persons as well as aided the implementation that all law enforcement agencies in the county carry Naloxone. The addition of a prevention program gained momentum quickly. There is currently a waiting list of 3 agencies wanting their staff members to be trained, as well as numerous requests for community trainings. We have worked with drug companies such as ADAPT Pharma and Teleflex to provide and replace demonstration kits for us.

Response for this program has been overwhelming. We are currently receiving more request than we can take in. In order to combat this, we are looking into train-the-trainer models to have additional persons in the county who can give the OOEND presentations.

Although we are increasing the number of people in the community who are educated on opioid abuse and trained to use naloxone we have not seen a decrease in deaths in Erie County. Due to this we have conducted additional research regarding the number of pharmacies that are actually dispensing naloxone, and hot spots related to opioid overdose/ heroin overdose deaths.

Ultimately we have implemented a great prevention strategy that is filling the gap, but it is just the beginning. Our prevention strategy focus’s most on reducing deaths due to opioids and not how to stop people from abusing opioids in the first place. This is an aspect of the program that still needs improvement, but for now our program is a start.