Naloxone, the nasal spray drug that can reverse the effects of opioid overdoses, is saving lives in Santa Barbara County, and has become more readily available to those who need it.
Santa Barbara County sheriff’s Cmdr. Craig Bonner said deputies have 115 naloxone kits to prevent opioid overdose-related deaths, and they have used it four times since they started carrying it this year.
Last month, a sheriff’s deputy used the drug, also known as Narcan, to save the life of a Goleta man who was reported unconscious, sheriff’s spokeswoman Kelly Hoover told Noozhawk.
She said deputies arrived at a residence in the 6100 block of Verdura Avenue before fire and medical personnel, and discovered the man had symptoms of an overdose.
A deputy administered one dose of the intranasal naloxone, and within a few seconds the man was conscious and breathing normally.
Bonner said time can be crucial to saving a life.
“Having the ability to get life-saving medicine inside somebody a couple of minutes before (medical services arrive) can make the difference between life and death,” he said.
“We are trying to help people and recognize the importance of this.”
Opioids were involved in more than 33,000 deaths nationwide in 2015, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Santa Barbara County had 63 opioid-related accidental deaths in 2015 and 43 deaths in 2016, according to John Doyel, alcohol and drug program director with the county Department of Behavioral Wellness.
Doyel credits some of the decrease to the county’s Overdose Prevention and Reversal Program, education and the distribution of naloxone in the community.
According to the California State Board of Pharmacy, the naloxone prescription drug blocks the receptors in the brain from the effects of opioids and restores breathing. It also may be administered by intramuscular injection.
Sheriffs deputies received an hour-long training course on how to use the nasal spray in April, in conjunction with the county Emergency Medical Services Agency.
The spray kit costs $75 each and this year, the Sheriff’s Department received funding for the kits from Proposition 172, a 1993 voter-approved half-cent state sales tax for public safety services.
The county Public Health Department has obtained a grant from the California Department of Public Health to provide naloxone in the upcoming years, Bonner said.
The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime and the World Health Organization issued a report suggesting that naloxone be available to first responders and to people dependent on opioids, as well as their family members and peers who are likely to be present when an overdose occurs.
Several agencies in Santa Barbara County have received the training and are equipped with naloxone, said Susan Klein-Rothschild, deputy director of the Public Health Department.
“The goal is to get the naloxone in the community and in the hands of people who would potentially need to use it,” she said.
The Syringe Exchange Program, operated Pacific Pride Foundation, provides education and naloxone training for opioid overdoses at its Santa Barbara, Lompoc and Santa Maria offices.
Pacific Pride distributed 254 nasal spray kits across the county last fiscal year, according to Ken Osepyan, education and prevention coordinator for the nonprofit organization.
The kits saved 82 lives in the 2016-2017 fiscal year, he said.
“Because many of the participants in the Syringe Exchange Program are at a high risk of overdose, we distribute the Narcan kits directly to them and train them on how to use it,” Osepyan said. “We thought it was important and something our clients needed.”
The Food and Drug Administration approved naloxone in 1971 and its regulation varies by state.
People who are not using prescription drugs may obtain naloxone for others in emergencies, according to the state Board of Pharmacy.
“It’s simple to use,” Osepyan said. “It’s not going to do anything besides reviving the person from overdosing from opioids.”
California law eliminates criminal and civil liability for “individuals who administer naloxone to someone suspected of experiencing an overdose after receiving it along with required training,” according to the state Department of Public Health.
Pharmacists’ authority to furnish naloxone was established by AB 1535, a state law enacted in 2014.
— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
