Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Library staffers learn about Naloxone
Employees of county libraries participated in training on the use of the opioid overdose-reversing drug Naloxone.
PENN » Chester County Drug and Alcohol Program Specialist Catherine Vaul told an audience on Thursday that it occurred to her only recently that libraries are vital areas where staff must to understand how to handle drug overdoses.
Specifically, she said, they are places where large groups of people gather, they are sheltered and they are open to the public. With one person in every 10 having some involvement in drug prob-
lems, it is likely that the staffs are going to see overdoses at some point.
Vaul, along with EMS Educational Specialist Ethan Healey, met with representatives of Avon Grove, Oxford, Downingtown and Kennett Square libraries in a training session on the use of Naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan, that reverses an opioid overdose when administered to a person who is in the throes of the condition.
“My wish is that there is Narcan in every first aid kid and with every AED in the county,” she said.
The session was held at the Penn Township Municipal Building and was organized by Avon Grove Library Director Lori Schwabenbauer, who said the library was closed for a day to clean the carpets, so it seemed like the right time to get the staff trained. About 25 people came to the event.
Healey, a senior at West Chester University organized Chester County’s Project Naloxone. It has provided more than 300 kits of the substance to all Chester County municipal police and state troopers.
In 2016, a partnership between Chester County Department of Drug and Alcohol Services and Chester County Health Department supplied more than 600 doses of Narcan to more than 30 providers, county agencies and community organizations at no cost.
Healey prefaced his lesson on Narcan with the grim statistics of drug overdose and death in just his Good Fellowship Ambulance alone.
“We get about one call a day for drug overdoses,” he said. Statistics showed that in 2016 there were 97 accidental drug overdose deaths in Chester County, and in 2017, the number is heading to exceed the previous year.
Healey had the drug on hand to show his audience what it looked like. It is small enough to hold in a pencil case and comes in the form of a nasal spray and an injection. It is expensive (about $350 a dose), but the county has obtained grants to distribute quantities of it to agencies for free.
He said Narcan as a relatively safe drug that interrupts the action of drugs on the edge of nerves in the brain. Its effect lasts for about a half hour, after which, if the victim has ingested a heavy dose of opioid drugs, another dose of Narcan may be needed.
Those who are prompted to administer it either by injection or nasal spray are protected by “David’s Law,” which shields them from legal action, even if they are not medically trained.
Healey gave these instructions:
When a drug overdose is suspected, check the victim for eye pupil constriction, and look around for signs of drug overdoes like hypodermics or even weapons.
Call 911 immediately, and then try to arouse the patient. If they are not breathing, apply CPR.
Healy said the patient must be breathing to administer the Narcan, otherwise it doesn’t work.
Having given the Narcan, turn the victim to the side so if they vomit they do not aspirate the vomit.
Vaul presented many of the facts and figures of drug use in the area.
She said the main demographic of drug overdose victims is white males between the ages of 25 and 34 in county, with a high percentage occurring along the Route 30 Corridor.
She said the rapid jump in opioid use and overdoses can be attributed to several causes, but primary among them is the overuse of prescription medicine and then, after addiction sets in, the practice of buying drugs at a much lower price on the street.
Vaul said the current youth culture has come up with parties during which everyone brings all the pills they can in their homes and puts them in a common bowl. At the party they all dig in and take a handful.
She said many people shop around for different doctors to get more prescriptions, and they use different drug stores to fill them, which, up to recently, were not able to cross-reference with other pharmacies.
She also use the words “Big Pharma” and “Big, Big Pharma” as examples of over-advertising of drugs.
Vaul recommended locking up drugs — even securing them when a house is for sale and potential buyers search the medicine chest. She also suggested placing leftover medications in collection boxes, but not throwing them in the toilet, which could lead them to become part of the water table.
In 2016, Chester County had 21 permanent medication collection boxes and nine temporary boxes.
She also distributed literature that gives information on contacts and resources for people who are concerned about drug use.