Dundee ‘top of the list’ for anti-overdose kit

Public health minister Joe Fitzpatrick has pledged Dundee will be “one of the first locations” given access to funding to kit out paramedics with anti-overdose medication if a pilot scheme is successful.

Scotland’s Drug Deaths Taskforce is funding a three-month “take-home naloxone” trial which will see those treated by ambulance workers in Glasgow for a non-fatal overdose, and who don’t want to go to hospital, given a naloxone kit to take away.

Training will be given on how to use the drug, which can reverse the effect of an opioid overdose. The medication can then be used in the event of any future overdose before the ambulance arrives, reducing the risk of death.

A total of 500 kits have been provided to the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) for the Glasgow pilot.

The trial will be evaluated and, if successful, it could be made permanent and extended to other areas of Scotland.

During a visit to SAS in Springburn, Mr Fitzpatrick said statistics show around half of those whose deaths are drug-related have previously suffered a non-fatal overdose.

He said the medication naloxone “can and does save lives”.

The public health minister has pledged Dundee will be at the front of the queue if the pilot scheme improves outcomes for people accessing emergency services.

Mr Fitzpatrick told The Courier:

“This pilot in Glasgow will run for 12 weeks. If it proves successful, Dundee would be one of the first locations across Scotland where it would be rolled out.

“This trial is one of a range of actions the Drug Deaths Taskforce is taking to address the public health emergency which Glasgow, Dundee and the whole of Scotland faces in terms of drugrelated deaths.

“The last meeting of the taskforce was held in Dundee earlier this month.”

Figures released earlier this month show the number of deaths caused by drugs in Tayside was on track to reach triple figures after police recorded 44 confirmed fatalities in the first six months of 2019, with a further 13 under investigation.