Naloxone Access Pilot Programs (FAQs)
Naloxone Access Pilot Programs (FAQs)
This article will review FAQs in relation to Naloxone Access Programs being rolled out in various jurisdictions, including the ‘Take Home Naloxone’ pilot program in Australia – and why these programs need your support.
Disclaimer: This article is for education purposes only.
- This content is NOT for use for training purposes
- This content is NOT to be used as medical advice
- Consult your local emergency/ambulance numbers and emergency medical centre in an overdose emergency situation
Naloxone Access Programs to Prevent Overdose Deaths
Overdoses lead to the loss of over 500,000 individual lives each year.
For every life lost to a preventable overdose, there are at least 2 other lives (and as many as 100s of lives) impacted by the loss of that person’s life.
To bring more awareness to this serious public health concern and the impact overdose losses have on families and communities, International Overdose Awareness Day is held annually on the 31st of August.
- Please participate in this year’s overdose awareness and stigma reduction efforts, led by Penington Institute
- Get involved in saving lives by supporting Naloxone access programs and other overdose prevention initiatives
- Donate to overdose research at Penington Institute
Support overdose awareness and overdose prevention research
Participate in International Overdose Awareness Day – click here.
Please donate to Penington Institute to support their research and awareness programs.
Overdose awareness questions
How much do you know?
- What are the risks of dying from an accidental overdose?
- How do overdose fatalities compare to other accidental deaths and road-related fatalities?
- Do you realise how many deaths worldwide are due to unintentional overdoses?
- Do you know which medications can prevent an overdose fatality when someone has accidentally taken too much of a particular drug?
Global overdose statistics
Overdoses have led to the death of over half a million people in a year.
- Many overdose (drug toxicity) deaths are unintentional – the person did not intend to die
- Deaths from overdoses vastly exceed road-related fatalities (TAC/RACPG Report)
- As with all accidental/premature deaths, these premature deaths forever impact those individuals’:
- Friends
- Family members (parents, siblings, children/grandchildren)
- Work colleagues
- Neighbours, others in their community
- First responders
- Medical teams
- These deaths could have been prevented in the presence of someone trained & equipped to administer Naloxone
- Reducing the stigma of overdose fatalities is also needed to:
- Increase overdose awareness
- Improve funding of overdose prevention & research programs
Australia overdose deaths
- In Australia, one person dies of an overdose every four hours (Source: Penington Institute)
- Over 2,200 people died from overdoses in 2020
United States of America (USA/US) overdose deaths
- In the USA, the rate of overdose deaths equated to 44 deaths per day in 2020 (nearly 2 deaths per hour) according to the CDC Overdose Report)
- Preliminary 2021 overdose statistics revealed over 107,000 people lost their lives to overdoses in the USA in 2021; equating to a drug-related loss of a life every 5 minutes in the United States (Source: PBS News)
Global overdose deaths including opioid overdose fatalities
The 2022 Annual Overdose Report by Penington Institute is now available.
Click here for the 2022 Overdose Statistics Report.
Australian deaths due to drug-induced toxicity (drug overdoses) in 2022 – refer to the Australian Overdose Statistics illustration shown below.
Image source: Penington Institute 2022 Annual Overdose Report
Please GET INVOLVED with International Overdose Awareness Day this year (31 August 2022).
- Donate to Overdose Awareness & Overdose Prevention Research where you can
- Support free Naloxone access programs/pilot programs and Naloxone training in your community
- And learn the risks of accidental overdoses and how to prevent them from taking the life of your loved ones
Naloxone Access FAQs (Naloxone Pilot Programs)
It is the aim of this article to encourage individuals, families, and corporations to become involved with overdose prevention awareness, overdose prevention research, and stigma-reduction campaigns, including the 31st August “International Overdose Awareness Day” initiatives.
Naloxone safety and overdose prevention
Naloxone is an approved medication that can help reverse some of the life-threatening symptoms of an overdose. When properly administered, Naloxone can save lives.
Is Naloxone available in Australia?
- Yes, Naloxone is made available free of charge at participating pharmacies
- You can still access Naloxone medicines WITH a prescription
- The pilot program in Australia also permits take-home Naloxone access, free of charge, without a prescription
- Learn more about Australia’s pilot programs “Take Home Naloxone” & Naloxone access in various states including NSW, Victoria, Queensland, etc.
- Read the UQ evaluation of the PBS subsidised Naloxone program
Why is access to Naloxone considered important for saving lives?
Opioid use and opioid overdoses (specifically synthetic opioid overdose deaths) are:
- A serious public health safety concern
- Increasing across all age groups over the age of 15 years
- A preventable cause of death
What is a Naloxone access program?
- Naloxone access programs enable at-risk individuals, their families, friends, and other loved ones, to access Naloxone more readily in the event of an overdose scenario
- For example, providing individuals and their families with access to (and training in) Naloxone administration as an emergency overdose treatment
- Ensuring Naloxone is readily accessible in locations where the person is most at risk of suffering from an overdose scenario (which may be a long distance from the nearest hospital and/or nearest ambulance services)
- Even where free access to Naloxone (community access) is provided (e.g., in all 50 United States/USA and in Australia:
- Urgent/Emergency Medical Care must still be sought in regard to patient safety
- Professional medical care is required even after the first Naloxone dose begins to show effectiveness in terms of restoring ‘normal’ breathing
- Additional dosing and/or other medical interventions might be required at the Emergency Room (The CDC, NIDA and other overdose experts recommend seeking urgent Emergency care)
Training is increasingly available to help community members recognise and respond to an overdose scenario – including administering Naloxone (and seeking emergency medical support). This type of ‘overdose response training’ should be completed by as many people in the community as possible.
Support overdose awareness and overdose prevention research
Participate in International Overdose Awareness Day – click here.
Please donate to Penington Institute to support their research and awareness programs.
Naloxone Access Pilot Program FAQs – continued
Are overdose deaths on the rise?
- Yes, overdose data shows an alarming trend towards significant increases.
- However, there is variability in overdose fatalities across various age groups and in different years.
- Click here for an overview of worldwide overdose statistics
- Click here for Australian overdose statistics (Penington Institute’s Overdose Report)
- Click here for overdose statistics in the USA
- In relation to overdose deaths and the pandemic, the BMJ reported an increase in suspected overdose deaths (and other risky behaviours) in teenagers since the pandemic began
Are overdose deaths preventable?
- Yes, drug-related fatalities (overdose deaths) can typically be prevented with proper care, considering that:
- In 40% of overdoses, someone else is present at the time of the overdose
- 80% of overdoses occur in a home
This is why pilot programs enabling at-risk individuals (and their families) to access Naloxone – usually via a prescription kept on hand for emergency overdose scenarios, along with training in administration – are such important initiatives.
These programs need the ongoing support of our communities, chemists/pharmacies, Medicare access programs, and medical personnel because they are proven to save lives that would otherwise be lost.
Overdose death statistics – cause for alarm
The overdose statistics (below) are one reason many of us are alarmed – and why we want to raise awareness of overdose risks and increase the capacity of first responders to save lives (including first responders who are friends and family members) by administering Naloxone and calling for emergency support.
- The age-adjusted rate of drug overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids increased from 1.0 per 100,000 in 2013 to 11.4 in 2019 (USA data from the CDC & NIDA/NIH).
- It is estimated that drug overdoses amongst teenagers is on the rise, since the start of the pandemic (according to the CDC/NIDA)
- That noted, in 2019 in the US, adults aged 35–44 had the highest rate of drug overdose deaths (40.5 per 100,000).
- Many overdoses/suspected drug overdoses are unintentional
- Many overdose deaths can be prevented by timely administration of Naloxone
- Several Naloxone Access Pilot Programs are currently being implemented in various locations/countries
SAMSHA Overdose toolkit – click here.
Support overdose awareness and overdose prevention research
Participate in International Overdose Awareness Day – click here.
Please donate to Penington Institute to support their research and awareness programs.
How does naloxone work?
- Naloxone helps reverse and/or block the effects of other opioids
- Naloxone can generally help restore normal breathing to a person if their breathing has slowed or stopped because of an opioid overdose (Source: CDC)
Why is Naloxone used in emergency medical settings?
- Naloxone is a medicine that works as an ‘opioid antagonist’
- Naloxone is used as a lifesaving “overdose reversal” drug, primarily in emergency medical situations and hospital settings, and sometimes by police and community members responding to an overdose
- This medicine (Naloxone) rapidly counteracts the effects of opioids
- It is often administered, where access to Naloxone is made available, to individuals who are known to have overdosed (or suspected to have overdosed) on opioids or other medications mixed with opioids/synthetic opioids
- It only works for about 30 to 90 minutes, however, so the person may still experience life-threatening overdose symptoms/respiratory distress/etc.
- Always call your Emergency/Ambulance contact numbers (911 in the USA, 000 in Australia, etc.) when a person is suspected to be suffering from an overdose
Pilot programs permitting Naloxone access in various community settings (versus solely in medical settings) aim to help prevent overdose fatalities by enabling access to life-saving medications where, and when, required.
Expanding access to emergency treatment medications for opioid overdoses
- Naloxone is now being provided for use by police officers, emergency medical technicians (first responders), and other first responder/community protection workers
- In the USA, for example, many States and Pharmacies now provide training for administering the overdose medication (Naloxone) as well as access, where appropriate:
- To individuals most at risk of an overdose AND
- Family members & friends (e.g., people close to individuals with known opioid abuse/opioid addictions and related overdose risks)
- Australia has also rolled out and evaluated its pilot program for Naloxone access
- Read the Australian report on ‘Take Home Naloxone’ (31 January 2022)
Why is community access to Naloxone so important?
The World Health Organization includes the overdose medicine, Naloxone, in its list of “essential medicines”.
- Naloxone has been used by emergency rooms doctors and ambulance personnel since the 1970s; it works by counteracting (reversing) respiratory depression that results from a drug overdose/opioid overdose
- Its effectiveness relies on its ability to reverse life-threatening states of ‘respiratory depression’ in individuals who have intentionally or unintentionally consumed potentially fatal amounts of opioids (opioid overdose) and to bring their breathing back to ‘normal’
- Without Naloxone, administered properly and in a timely manner, the person would otherwise die (or suffer severe organ damage) from a lack of oxygen, due to the overdose reaction of severely slowed breathing and/or where breathing has stopped altogether
- Timing of Naloxone administration is, of course, of crucial importance; and precisely why free Naloxone access programs and Naloxone administration training are so important
Accidental death statistics
Are there more deaths due to overdoses compared to motor vehicle accident fatalities?
- Yes, overdose deaths have exceeded road-related fatalities for many years
- Drug-related overdose deaths are the leading cause of accidental deaths in the US.
- Click here for a link to drug-overdose statistics (USA) and maps showing which US states had increases in overdose deaths in recent years
- Read the Australian Overdose Statistics Report from Penington Institute
Learn more about the impact of overdose fatalities in an Interview with John Ryan (CEO, Penington Institute).
How and when is naloxone administered?
- Naloxone (“Narcan”) is generally given to a person who shows signs of an opioid overdose or when an overdose is suspected
- There are several different methods for administering naloxone
- Naloxone can be given as a nasal spray or it can be injected into the muscle, under the skin, or into the veins (Source: NIDA)
- It is generally considered relatively safe to give Naloxone to a person who is suspected of suffering from an overdose (but where the overdose status is not fully clear)
How soon does Naloxone need to be administered/used when a person is suspected of suffering from an overdose?
- Naloxone must be administered quickly in order to be effective as an overdose treatment
- Ongoing monitoring of patients/individuals who were administered Naloxone, and who’s breathing returned to ‘normal’, is required for at least 2 hours
- Always seek emergency medical care during an overdose scenario, particularly as Naloxone will wear off and if the overdose is severe, the person may start to suffer life-threatening symptoms/respiratory difficulty again when the effects of Naloxone wear off
Naloxone Access Programs – Pilot Program Summary
Why access to Naloxone is important
The World Health Organization includes the overdose medicine, Naloxone, in its list of “essential medicines”.
- Naloxone has been used by emergency room doctors and ambulance personnel since the 1970s
- Naloxone counteracts (reverses) respiratory depression resulting from a drug overdose (opioid overdose)
- Its effectiveness relies on reversing life-threatening states of ‘respiratory depression’ in individuals who have intentionally or unintentionally consumed potentially fatal amounts of opioids (opioid overdose)
How soon does Naloxone need to be administered/used when a person is suspected of suffering from an overdose?
- Naloxone must be administered quickly in order to be effective as an overdose treatment
- Ongoing monitoring of patients/individuals who were administered Naloxone, and whose breathing returned to ‘normal’, is required for at least 2 hours
- Always seek emergency medical care during an overdose scenario, particularly as Naloxone will wear off and if the overdose is severe, the person may start to suffer life-threatening symptoms/respiratory difficulty again when the effects of Naloxone wear off
https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/treatment/intentional-vs-unintentional-overdose-deaths
Additional information
National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA)
https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugfacts/naloxone
Is there a generic brand of Naloxone?
Yes, there are generic versions of Naloxone available in many locations.
- The original Naloxone medication’s brand name was ‘Narcan’
- That drug name may sometimes be used when an emergency room practitioner is referring to a generic version of the overdose prevention drug ‘Naloxone’
- But generic versions of this medicine may be available
- Note: Access to Naloxone generally requires a Prescription as well as training in the administration of the Naloxone product type
- In the US, there are two FDA-approved formulations of naloxone
- Injectable naloxone
- Naloxone in a pre-packaged nasal spray
Naloxone Side Effects (Dangers)
What are the side effects of Naloxone?
According to NIDA:
- People with physical dependence on opioids may have withdrawal symptoms within minutes after they are given naloxone
- Withdrawal symptoms might include headaches, changes in blood pressure, rapid heart rate, sweating, nausea, vomiting, and tremors
- Withdrawal can be extremely uncomfortable and can be distressing to experience or observe
- However, withdrawal symptoms are generally, according to NIDA, not likely to be life threatening, and the risk of death for someone overdosing on opioids is worse than the risk of having a bad reaction to naloxone.
- Read more about using Naloxone, side effects of Naloxone, and opioid withdrawal symptoms
- Read more about an FDA-approved medication used to mitigate opioid withdrawal symptoms
Can Naloxone cause seizures?
Can naloxone be used more than once?
Journal Articles
Overdose Deaths – Reducing Stigma
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA)
- https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/system/files/publications/2089/TDXD15020ENN.pdf
- Authors: John Strang and Rebecca McDonald National Addiction Centre, Addictions Department, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, United Kingdom –
American Society of Addiction Medicine – Public Policy Statements
Use of Naloxone for overdose prevention (emergency medicine)
Australian Transport Accident Commission (TAC) – road trauma reports
TAC Road Safety/Driving Fatalities Statistics
RACP/TAC reports on road-or-transport fatalities compared with overdose deaths
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