Recognizing and Treating an Opioid Overdose

BY: PAT MAUS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Opioid use in America has reached epidemic proportions. In October of 2016 the
Surgeon General released a report stating that 20 million Americans suffer from a form
of addiction. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of the
Surgeon General, Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Spotlight on
Opioids. Washington, DC: HHS, September 2018).
More than 130 people each day die from an opioid-related drug overdose. Drug
overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the USA and more than 6 out of 10
overdose deaths involved an opioid. (Rudd RA, Seth P, David F, Scholl L. Increases in
Drug and Opioid-Involved Overdose Deaths — United States, 2010–2015. MMWR Morb
Mortal Wkly Rep. ePub: 16 December 2016. DOI.) Naloxone is a medication that
quickly reverses an opioid overdose and restores breathing in an individual with an
opioid overdose. Research has shown that when naloxone and overdose education are
available to the community, overdose deaths decrease in that community. (U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of the Surgeon General,
Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Spotlight on Opioids. Washington,
DC: HHS, September 2018). Therefore, making naloxone available to patients with
known access to opioids is a critical step in reducing opioid-related deaths.
MC has the opportunity to provide education to patients their significant others on how
to identify an opioid overdose and safely treat that overdose with the life-saving
administration of naloxone.
AIM
Provide patients and their significant others with the education and skills to identify an
opioid overdose and immediately treat that overdose with naloxone and other
supportive measures. These supportive measures include maintenance of a clear
airway, activating the emergency response system by calling 911, maintaining a safe
environment and recognizing the need for dosage clarification or adjustment following
an overdose.

TARGET AUDIENCE
All MC patients who are dismissed from the inpatient or outpatient setting with an opioid
prescription greater than 90 mme will receive a naloxone (Narcan) prescription. The
target audience is these patients and their available significant others.

DELIVERY OPTIONS

Instruction will be delivered online through the Patient Online Services patient portal.
This delivery option will place the content in a location that is accessible to patients in
their homes, on their devices or in the medical setting. The content will remain on the
portal and be available for repeat viewing and/or to share with significant others.

There is the opportunity to also make this instruction available on the MC Connect
website for Pain Rehabilitation and Addictions patients and families. These groups of
patients would access the content via a password provided by their health care
provider.