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<\/a><\/p>\nThe most Narcan that Sornborger has ever seen deployed to someone was six doses, and it is not uncommon for someone to receive two to three doses of Narcan before they return to breathing.<\/p>\n
The increase of non-opioid adulterants in fentanyl makes it harder for first responders to reverse an overdose, said Lydia Kariakin, the national communications director for the Association of People Against Lethal Drugs. That is because Narcan only counteracts opioids.<\/p>\n
\u201cNarcan isn\u2019t even working to some degree anymore,\u201d said Kariakin. \u201cSo education is really where it\u2019s at.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fentanyl hasn\u2019t necessarily gotten stronger, but its becoming more unpredictable with its dosage and fillers.<\/p>\n
In Central Oregon, methamphetamine is the substance most commonly mixed with fentanyl, according to Regional Overdose Response Coordinator Haley Morris. Methamphetamine is a powerful synthetic stimulant, meaning that Narcan does not reverse its effects. Still, Narcan is a preferred first response for someone overdosing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen in doubt, always just use Narcan,\u201d Morris said. \u201cNarcan does only work for opioids, but it won\u2019t harm anyone if they don\u2019t happen to have opioids like fentanyl in their system. It\u2019s still safe to give them a dose, and so we still encourage that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ana Woodburn, Deschutes County Health Services harm reduction\u202foverdose\u202fprevention and response strategist, agrees. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf someone you know is using any kind of combination of substances which depresses the central nervous system, naloxone still works for the fentanyl or the opioid overdose, but the person may still be sedated,\u201d she said. \u201cWe just coach people that when responding to an overdose, we\u2019re looking for someone to return to breathing. Not that they may or may not wake up or become alert. They might, but we\u2019re looking for the breathing to return because commonly those substances, if present, are still mixed with fentanyl, and so naloxone is still the appropriate approach as a first step.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, it is recommended that someone visit the hospital after being revived by Narcan because other drugs may still be in their system, which risks another overdose. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe always hope that they\u2019ll go and get further medical treatment,\u201d said Sornborger.<\/p>\n
Bend police officers typically carry at least one dose of Narcan on their belt and have a few extra in their vehicle. Each nasal Narcan dose contains four milligrams of naloxone. <\/p>\n
The number of overdoses the Bend Police respond to comes in waves. Officers are often first to respond to reports of an overdose, according to Sornborger. <\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes we won\u2019t have any during the week, and then sometimes we\u2019ll have multiple on the same day,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
During the times in which multiple overdoses occurred on the same day, Sornborger has had to go back to the police department to replenish her supply.<\/p>\n
In situations where Narcan needs to be deployed more than once to reverse an overdose, Morris and Woodburn recommend waiting two to three minutes between each dose to give the medication time to interact with the drugs in someone\u2019s system.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it is important for people to know that it\u2019s not necessarily uncommon to need more than one dose of Narcan when responding,\u201d Morris said. \u201cIt\u2019s always helpful if folks are able to get more than one dose and have that nearby, just in the case that they may need to use it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Narcan is available for free at Mosaic Medical and BestCare, Central Oregon Harm Reduction Coalition events, or at self-serve cabinets at 685 Southeast 3rd Street in Bend or 51340 U.S. Highway 97 in La Pine.<\/p>\n
August 31 is International Overdose Awareness Day. Deschutes County Health Services will highlight overdose awareness, prevention and resources available in the community on its social media that day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fewer people are dying of fentanyl overdoses in Deschutes County. But when emergency responders do find people overdosing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":661856,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[274],"tags":[18,135,19,17,462],"class_list":["post-661855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-eire","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-medication"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117177815081929286","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=661855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/661856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=661855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=661855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=661855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}