A demonstration of administering Naloxone (Narcan) from Q’wemtsin Health Society (QHS).
Hi i’m bobby cesamus and the community wellness champion at crunching house society i’m here to talk to you a little bit about the take home naloxone kits these kits were implemented in the province on august 31st 2012 in response to the provincial opioid crisis they are free to absolutely anybody that would like one and additionally there’s a naloxone nasal
Spray available which is also free to anyone who obtains a valid status card so naloxone also known as narcan is a intramuscular injection or nasal spray that is utilized to reverse an opioid overdose um an opioid overdose is that of a depressant so it’s gonna shut down the body the signs and symptoms that you might see are the person is going to be very
Lethargic they might even be unconscious at this point their skin could be pale it could be ashy depending on what their normal skin tone is they could be cold clammy their pupils are going to be very narrow and they might be rolling back into their eye sockets a little bit but most importantly you’re going to notice their breathing is going to be very slow
It’s going to be labored you might get gargling or choking sounds because their body is losing that oxygen you might notice too that their fingertips and lips are going slightly blue in tone as the body begins to shut down the organs are getting less and less oxygen and a person is at risk for brain damage or other organ failure these symptoms are the exact
Opposite of someone who’s overdosing from a stimulant it’s important to note that naloxone is only effective on an opioid overdose if someone is exhibiting symptoms of a stimulant overdose it’s okay to use naloxone it’s either going to help or it’s not especially with the drugs that are on the streets currently we’re seeing a lot of cross-contamination so
Somebody could be using something like cocaine but it could be contaminated with fentanyl and as a result they could be experiencing an opioid overdose so if you find someone that you suspect is overdosing from an opioid you want to first try and get their attention if you know them just call it their name maybe shake them a little bit say hey are you okay if
You don’t get any kind of response you are going to want to stimulate a little bit of pain so you’re going to make your knuckles here and press firmly on the chest plate or beneath the nose if they are overdosing they likely won’t respond to that but if they’re just passed out you might get a little bit of turning maybe mumbling in that case you’re okay but if
Not you want to call 9-1-1 if you have to leave them to make that call you want to put them in the recovery position where they’re on their side with their top leg at a 90 degree angle in front of their body and likewise with their hands at a 90 degree angle and their face purge so that if they do vomit in your absence they’re not going to choke if you’re able
To stay with them while you make that phone call you can leave them how they are as long as their airway isn’t obstructed and you’re able to monitor them to make sure that they don’t vomit if they do just roll them over so once you are on the phone with 9-1-1 you want to tell them that you have found someone that you suspect is experiencing an opioid overdose
They are unresponsive they will generally stay on the line with you and walk you through the steps of naloxone and if not if they hang up and you will always have the steps in your case as well so when you open up this kit it’s going to have three single use syringes three vials of naloxone a one-way valve face mask a pair of gloves and an alcohol swab we
Have the save me steps here so it provides all the steps that we are talking about right now in this video just for anybody’s reference so once you’ve made your call for 9-1-1 you are going to roll this person onto their back make sure that their airway is open the neck is at a 90 degree angle and you’re going to put in your gloves you are going to look into
Their mouth make sure that they’re not choking on anything like chewing tobacco gum food with your finger you can do a mouth swab everything is good to go you’re gonna start providing breaths it’s really important that you provide one breath every five seconds because again a person can start to experience brain damage if they are not getting enough oxygen
Into their body so in order to start providing those breasts you are going to take out your one-way valve face mask as you can see this portion here that protrudes from the masses and you go between the teeth of the recipient with the mask draped over their face and you will pinch the nostril when providing the breath otherwise that air will escape out of
Their nasal passage if you’re by yourself things get a little bit more complicated because you want to do one breath in between each step if you have someone with you they can focus on their breasts and you can focus on the steps so you want to provide those breaths one breath every five seconds for up to a minute if you notice that the person is starting to
Become a little bit more responsive you should be good just continue to monitor them make sure that they are able to breathe on their own and stay with them until those first responders come if they don’t start to come to you want to start preparing your naloxone for the next steps so you are going to open up your naloxone vial here these are just water for
Training purposes it is a glass vial and if you take off the protective cap there you can see that the water line is quite low it’s very important that you remember to swirl your vial because the liquid level will rise you put your cap back on and when opening this you always want to open it away from yourself if you put your fingers on the center of the vial
And your other fingers on the outside and make sure that you’re putting force on each end and the center point it away from yourself and press into the middle and hear a crack when you have your vial open you don’t want to have to worry about any little shards coming out so always make sure that you put it outwards from yourself these single-use syringes are
Quite hefty they each come individually wrapped in a sterilized package and they each have a cap on them so you can take them out and then open your naloxone or open your naloxone and take your needle out it doesn’t matter they’re both interchangeable steps um as long as you leave the cap on until you’re actually ready these syringes are really great because
They’re such a thick needle that they can be injected through heavy clothing like car hearts or winter jackets um but if you feel like you have time and there’s exposed skin you can take out the alcohol swab and clean an injection site when you’re drawing up your naloxone you’re going to put your needle at the bottom corner of the vial and slowly but firmly
Push upward onto the needle and you’ll see that the medication is being lifted into the syringe you’re gonna hear a gargle and see some bubbles pop up and that’s when you know that you’ve got it all you’re gonna then point your needle upwards towards the sky at a 90 degree angle and you’re gonna slowly push out all that air it is okay if you get a little bit
Of air in there it’s not preferable but it’s better to have that than to actually squirt out some naloxone like that you want to maintain as much of it into the vial as you can when you’re getting ready to do your injection you are going to go for those very thick muscles you’re going to go for your bicep you’re going to go for the side of the thigh or the
Upper buttocks and think of a dart and just one swift movement into that muscle and then press firmly down onto the syringe and you’ll hear a click and see that the needle retracts back into the barrel it is a safety feature so you cannot prick yourself after you use it and someone cannot come along and reuse that syringe afterwards so once you’ve administered
Your naloxone you want to continue to provide your breasts one breath every five seconds and monitor to see if they start to come too you will generally notice some changes within three to five minutes if the naloxone worked that is about how long it takes for it to get to the receptors in the brain where it boots off that opioid and allows the person to come
To and start breathing properly sometimes depending on how much of an opioid a person has consumed it might not work and you are going to need to start preparing your next dose of naloxone so it’s very critical to keep monitoring with that time frame if they do come to they might be a little disoriented they might be angry um you might not know what happened
So just try to keep yourself safe give them a bit of space and explain to them what happened try to get them to remain calm and stay where they are explain that first responders are on their way and encourage them to seek that extra medical attention because they can revert back into an opioid overdose so within anywhere between 20 to 90 minutes and it’s very
Important that they get checked out again in case they do need any more naloxone administered naloxone is really great because it can be used on someone who’s pregnant it can be used on children infants it has minimal side effects note about storage you don’t want to leave it into a vehicle any like excess of heat or cold can impair its potency but again if
It’s expired or is improperly stored you can still use it it’s better to use expired or we can potentially naloxone than no naloxone at all if you would like to receive a kit or for more information on how to use a kit give us a call at crunching health society and we’d be happy to help you
Transcribed from video
Naloxone Demonstration from Q'wemtsin Health Society (QHS) By Qwemtsín Health Society