Opioid Prevention Program
SoCal Mobile CPR now offers an opioid Prevention Program. The program is designed to offer awareness, prevention, treatment and referrals. More than 760,000 people have died from a drug overdose since 1999. The number of drug overdose deaths has increased by more than 16% from 2020 – 2021. Over 75% of drug overdoses of 107,000 drug overdose deaths involving an opioid. The U.S. Department of health and Human Services has declared a public health emergency in response to the epidemic. in 2017. Due to this reason, SoCal Mobile CPR designed the Opioid prevention program in order to educate the public.
What is an Opioid?
Opioids are a broad group of pain-relieving medicines that work with your brain cells. Opioids can be made from the poppy plant for example, morphine and Norco’s. Opioids can also be made in a laboratory like fentanyl. Other opioids that may sound familiar include codeine, hydrocodone (Vicodin), oxycodone. But there are many more.
When used as directed by your doctor, opioid medicines safely help control severe pain, such as after surgery or a medical procedure. But there are risks when the medicines aren’t used accordingly or are abused.
When Opioid Medicines are Dangerous
When taken correctly, opioids may make you feel sleepy. But higher doses can slow your breathing and heart rate, which can lead to death. Of course, the pleasure or feeling high that results from taking an opioid can lead individuals to start taking higher doses. This can lead to addiction problem. Sadly, the individuals may no longer control the use of opioids which than leads to addiction.
What Does the Opioid Prevention Program Cover?
The program is designed to educate the public and raise awareness of the opioid crisis in the United States. The program will discuss several different aspects including, what is an opioid, why is it dangerous, treatment and recovery.
Recognition of an opioid overdose can help save lives. Opioids are respiratory depressants meaning it slows a person’s breathing down to the point where they can possibly die from it. An important component to the training is learning the signs of an overdose. We will also teach the students how to administer Narcan. Narcan is a narcotic antagonist which reverses the effects of the opioids.
Participants of the training will also learn hands-only CPR. Hands only CPR may come into play if the overdose victim has been down for too long. This may occur if Narcan will no longer be effective. If you have questions regarding CPR, please take a look at our Google reviews.
Participants will also get a list of resources and local programs that can help with addiction, behavioral issues or suicidal tendencies. Advertisements of the training will be made on the city website and social media page.
What is the Cost of the Program and How Can I Schedule Training
On July 21, 2021, a $26 billion offer to settle was made by opioid manufacturer Janssen Pharmaceuticals, McKesson, AmerisourceBergen, and Cardinal Health to resolve their liabilities in over 3,000 opioid crisis-related lawsuits nationwide. It’s estimated that California will receive approximately $2.05 billion from the Janssen and Distributors Settlement Agreements through 2038.
Due to the Lawsuit Cities’ Counties and local agencies can now get reimbursed for the cost of setting up these programs. The training can be coordinated at a nearby location or community center. The training can be offered to residents, community members or anyone interested. If you would like to enquire about this program, please contact us.
