Improve Links to Treatment for People who Experience a Non-Lethal Overdoses or Naloxone Revivals
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Background
Increasing Linkages to Care
As first responders and others in communities are increasingly using naloxone (often Narcan) to reverse overdoses and prevent deaths, there is often a missed opportunity to connect the people who were revived from the overdose with the appropriate linkages to care. This care can include opportunities for inpatient and out pateint (IOP) treatment, access to Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT), and other options including 12-Step support groups. Typically, after receiving a lifesaving dose of naloxone, patients are released with only information and numbers to call if they’re ready to start their recovery. Regardless of whether a person survived due to administration of naloxone, or whether they were taken to an ER or hospital or if they survived the overdose without either of those, a comprehensive strategy should have multiple ways that help that person get into treatment.
For those who are rivied by another individual and does not seek medical assistance, communities can provide linkages to care that can be accessed by someone willing to get help.
Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT)
- One of the best opportunities to prescribe maintenance medication occurs during the hours or days after the overdose reversal or hospitalization for an overdose
- Maintenance medication is the only approach known to cut the overdose mortality rate by 50-70%[1]
- In one clinical trial, those offered immediate medication treatment were:
Promising Programs
Emergency Medicine Initiative
Tools & Resources
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Sources
- ^ [1]Pierce, M., Bird, S. M., Hickman, M., Marsden, J., Dunn, G., Jones, A., & Millar, T. (2016). Impact of treatment for opioid dependence on fatal drug-related poisoning: A national cohort study in England. Addiction, 111(2), 298–308. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.13193
- ^ [2]Szalavitz, M. (2016). Opioid Overdose: Emergency Treatment Is Crucial, but It’s Not Enough. Retrieved December 5, 2019, from Scientific American Blog Network website: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/opioid-overdose-emergency-treatment-is-crucial-but-it-s-not-enough/
- ^ [3]Szalavitz, M. (2016). Opioid Overdose: Emergency Treatment Is Crucial, but It’s Not Enough. Retrieved December 5, 2019, from Scientific American Blog Network website: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/opioid-overdose-emergency-treatment-is-crucial-but-it-s-not-enough/
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