The EMCDDA has launched a new online knowledge questionnaire on overdose and take-home naloxone aimed at potential bystanders of overdose, but also at a wider interested public. The main aim of the questionnaire is to refresh respondents’ knowledge on opioids, overdose risks and the role of take-home naloxone as part of the overall response to overdose deaths.
Many people overdose in the presence of their partners or peers. Empowering friends, family and other bystanders to act effectively, before emergency services arrive at the scene, can therefore save lives. Overdose prevention programmes, combining first aid training with the provision of the overdose-reversal drug naloxone, were piloted in Europe in the late 1990s. Now available at local or national level in 12 European countries, these take-home naloxone (THN) programmes are targeted at-risk opioid users and those likely to witness an overdose.
People exiting jail or prison are at very high risk for opioid-related overdose. Opioid-related overdose is the most frequent cause of death among people recently released from prison.
Peer to Peer Naloxone is a decentralised distribution mechanism designed by EuroNPUD for supporting people who use opiates. Mat Southwell is a veteran harm reductionist working on the frontlines for providing peer-led services to people who use drugs in the UK. Mat is a Project Coordinator at EuroNPUD.
Rosie Gilliver from Kirketon Road Centre presented at the 2020 NDARC Webinar Series on Thursday, 16 July 2020. This seminar provides information on how to identify and respond to an opioid overdose, as well as how to administer Nyxoid Naloxone nasal spray in the event of overdose.
On Sunday at a media briefing in Edinburgh, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman announced that “the Lord Advocate has confirmed that – for the duration of this crisis – it would not be in the public interest to prosecute any individual – working for a service registered with the Scottish Government – who supplies naloxone in an emergency, to save a life”. This development aims to increase the distribution of naloxone kits by relaxing the rules around who can supply the life-saving medication. It remains the case that anyone can legally administer naloxone, to anyone, for the purpose of responding to a suspected opiate-related overdose.
