So, the signs and symptoms of an opioid
overdose are, one, you can't get the
person to respond to a pain response. So,
you take your knuckles and you rub them
firmly on their sternum. If they do not
respond to that, that's a key indicator
that they've overdosed. Another indicator
would be blue or pale-ish lips and nails.
Another indicator would be their
breathing. Is it really shallow? Is it
raspy? Is it paused, so there's no breath
sound and then a big gasp? Those are all
indicators that somebody has overdosed.
So, the first thing you want to do when
you have determined that a person is not
responding to that pain response, is you
want to call 911. Immediately do that. Act
fast. Go get your phone. Call right away.
The next step you're going to take is
you're going to get your naloxone.
When you get your naloxone, then the
next thing you're going to do is
immediately give two rescue breaths.
You're going to then administer them the
naloxone. It doesn't matter if you have
the intramuscular naloxone, or the nasal
naloxone, or the auto-injector.
They are all the same. It's just a
different way of administering it, but it
all works equally well. Then, the next
thing you do is continue to give rescue
breaths until help arrives, or two
minutes have gone by. If help has not
arrived, if your first responders have
not arrived and two minutes have gone by,
you're going to give a second dose.
So, you can go to your prescriber's office
and get it from your doctor. You can go
to pharmacies and walk in and speak to
your pharmacist, and your pharmacist can
write you a script and give it to you on
the spot. If your pharmacist isn't
carrying it, it's a great opportunity for
you to get engaged in creating the
solutions that we need to see across our
country, and ask your pharmacy to please
start carrying it, and then you can
contact the Steve Rummler Hope
Foundation and come to us. If you come to
the Steve Rummler Hope Foundation, we
will train you on how to recognize,
administer, and what you're likely to
experience once you save your loved ones
life. And, when you come to our trainings
you'll leave with a kit.
Typically speaking the shelf life on all
naloxone, whether whichever administering
device it is, is two years. Other than
that, if you're prescribed it you will
see the expiration date on your
prescription, on your bottle, on the vial,
on the device itself. If you look at each
individual dose of naloxone, the
expiration date is actually on there as
well.
Naloxone is light-sensitive, which is why
we give out the kits in these bags, so
that they're protected from the lights.
Naloxone is also cold and heat sensitive,
so you want to keep it relatively within
room temperature. One of the things to
note though, is if you have naloxone and
it's been in your car, we live in
Minnesota, so our temperatures are fairly
extreme, very hot and very cold. If your
naloxone has been left in a car, and
it's ten below zero, and that is what you
have, you still want to use it. If the
naloxone has reached its expiration date,
you still want to use it, if that's all
you have, then use it.
Whether it's that you have relapsed with
the disease of addiction, or you've been
prescribed high doses of opioids, or
frankly, you're in an acute situation,
like you had dental surgery, and your
dentist has prescribed you opioids, all
of those times you want to get naloxone.
Then you really want to sit down
with your family members and explain to
them, I have received the antidote should
I overdose on an opioid, these are the
steps that you take.
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