EXCLUSIVE: Major rise in supply of lifesaving naloxone kits in Tayside
Over 1600 were handed out by NHS Tayside between 2018 and 2019
Last updated 25th Feb 2020
We can exclusively reveal the number of life saving naloxone kits supplied by NHS Tayside have nearly doubled.
Over 1600 were supplied between 2018 and 2019.
The drug reverses the effects of an overdose from opiods such as heroine.
Pauline Kinsman from Dundee used it to save her daughter's life.
"Scariest thing I've ever had to deal with. She was minutes away from death," she said.
"I couldn't get it open, I had to get her son to open it. I just stuck it in her leg.
"Because I had been a nurse it was easier for me to do it. It was still the scariest thing I've ever experienced.
"Seeing her overdosed, on the brink of death and having to bring her back to life. It was scary."
There's also been a major rise across Scotland with nearly 12,000 kits handed out by health boards in the latest financial year, compared to 8,479 the previous year.
However, Sharon Brand from Recovery Dundee doesn't think this necessarily means more kits are being used.
"The number of people distributing it have doubled. Agencies that are able to give out naloxone now have more people," she said.
"That's probably the reason why more are being given out."
Two major drugs summits will take place in Glasgow this week, aimed at tackling the growing number of deaths related to substance misuse.
In 2018 173 people died in Tayside and Fife as a result.
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