MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The Monongalia County Health Department with help from the WVU School of Public Health is offering free does of Naloxone in an effort to avoid fatal opioid overdoses.
The health department has 108 doses of Naloxone available to distribute to individuals who go through a 30-minute training session on how to use the medication.
During the training, attendees will be taught what signs look for in an opioid overdose, including blue lips; slow, labored or no breathing; and the patient being unresponsive to shaking or a rub with the knuckles on the sternum.
After calling 911 to get medical attention for the patient, the trained bystander can administer the medication through the nasal passages after attaching a cone-shaped atomizer to the nasal passages. The atomizer turns the liquid into a spray that can effectively be absorbed into the bloodstream.
In most instances, Naloxone will reverse the effect of the opioids and the person should wake up within minutes.
Those taking the training will also be taught to stay with the person until help arrives and to make sure additional opioids are not taken.
The kits come with two doses of Naloxone. If one does not work within a certain amount of time, a second dose can be administered.
People who administer the dose would not be subject to criminal prosecution if they are also drug users.
West Virginia currently is experiencing an opioid drug crisis and has the highest rate of death from opioid overdose than any other state in the nation. In 2015, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (cdc.gov), that rate was 41.5 deaths per 100,000 people. The state with the second-highest rate was New Hampshire at 34.3 deaths per 100,000 people.