Naloxone, a drug proven to help emergency personnel save an opioid user's life after an overdose, has come to Carbon County.

More than two dozen Carbon County emergency responders attended the Naloxone Administration for EMRs and EMTs training on Sunday evening at the Nesquehoning Hose Company social hall.The training was made possible through the Eastern Pennsylvania EMS Council after the county received a grant in January from the state Department of Health.The grant provided more than 500 doses of naloxone, more commonly known as Narcan, from Kaleo Pharmaceuticals to area first responders, and the drug will soon be found on basic life support and quick response service ambulances.Currently, only medical staff in the emergency room and advanced life support paramedics administer Narcan.Dr. Rose Attewell, the Nesquehoning Ambulance Corp medical director, said Senate Bill 1164, which was signed by former Gov. Tom Corbett last September, is the reason for the expansion of authorized administrators of naloxone. The expansion now provides first responders and police with the ability to administer Narcan when responding to an overdose call.Attewell said that it makes sense because BLS and QRS responders are usually the first on the scene, so it saves time when minutes count in an overdose."You have about four minutes of a person not breathing before there is almost no chance that the person will be able to be revived after an overdose," she said. "The people in the community should realize that we are doing our best with trying to alleviate this problem of accidental death from overdose."John McArdle, Nesquehoning Hose Company fire chief, said communities in Carbon County have seen a big need for this type of service because heroin and other opioid drugs have been increasing in popularity over the years."It's a drug of convenience," he said, "and we have people who are using it in all walks of life. Last year, in just one month, we had approximately four calls for overdoses going from teenagers to adults in their 50s, so it's definitely widespread."The two-hour training taught the responders a number of things, including what naloxone is, symptoms of an overdose, proper usage of the medication and the reactions that may occur from it.About opioids and NarcanIn today's society, opioids have quickly become a drug of choice because they are cheaper and easily accessible.Opioids, which are commonly used for pain management, can include prescribed substances like morphine, fentanyl, hydromorphine, oxycodone, hydrocodone, methadone, tramadol (Ultram), bupreonorphine (Buprenex), meperidine (Demerol), Lorcet, Vicodin, Percocet or Suboxone; or illegal substances such as opium or heroin.As a person begins to take one of these substances, they begin to build a tolerance. In the case of addiction, Attewell said that as the tolerance grows, so does the need for additional medications to take the edge off.Because of this, statistics show that overdose death is the number one cause of "injury death" in the United States, taking approximately 38,000 lives annually. Of these deaths, it has been found that 75 percent are due to opiate abuse.That's where Narcan can help."We're not trying to reverse the opioid completely," Attewell told the class. "We're just trying to replace the respiratory depression to allow enough time to get the person to an ER."The drug, which was developed in the 1960s, is used to reverse the effects of opioid use.It is administered one of three ways, intravenous, intranasal or needle-less auto injector administration.On Sunday evening, the responders practiced using training versions of auto injectors, which provide 0.4 mg of naloxone at once when pressed into the muscular area of the thigh. The training injector allows the person to go through the steps as if administering the drug. Once the sleeve is opened, the device talks the person through the process of pressing it to their leg.Attewell said if a person shows symptoms of an opioid overdose, which include having pinpoint pupils, very slow or no breathing, decreased pulse oximetry and decreased mental status, then Narcan may be able to help provide additional lifesaving time.Once administered, the drug works within minutes to counter some of the effects of drugs. It has a half-life of 30 minutes though, so Attewell said that depending on when the person last took the drugs, responders may see a return of symptoms.Sunday's training provided about 80 percent of the ambulance corp volunteers with the necessary training in Narcan.Once the remaining 20 percent is trained, which is expected in the near future, BLS and QRS ambulances will be equipped with the drug.