Life saving equipment offered to more drug users in North Yorkshire
An antidote to those who accidentally overdose is being made increasingly available
An emergency medicine is going to be given out to more people in North Yorkshire to save them from a drug overdose.
Naloxone effectively buys time to get further treatment by counteracting the effect of opiates. It is issued to people who use opiates, family members and institutions like hostels, which expect contact with drug users.
Since 2018, North Yorkshire Horizons has issued around 1,450 kits to clients using opiates, including codeine. They can be administered either through injection or a nasal spray.
It is known they have been used more than 60 times, though the figure may be higher as some cases may have gone unreported, and will have helped to save residents whose lives have been in peril.
Drug users are offered a kit and those who have refused will be approached again with a fresh offer. It is hoped to get the kits to more outlets, including mental health workers who, experience has shown, are likely to find themselves in contact with drug users. Other key organisations, which may be first responders to an overdose, may also be included in future.
North Yorkshire County Council executive member for health and adult services, Cllr Michael Harrison, said: “North Yorkshire Horizons have been very active in getting Naloxone into the parts of the community where it is most needed in recent years.
Thankfully, it is easy to administer and we know it has saved the lives of residents, so the next job is to get it issued even more widely.
It provides time for emergency services to arrive and for further treatment to be given. That time can be vital.
Every death from an overdose is preventable and we are determined to do everything possible to prevent them happening."