overdose Archives

The Authors’ Own Words: Knowledge of the 911 Good Samaritan Law and 911-calling behavior of overdose witnesses

Jan 10, 2020 by AMERSA

The Authors’ Own Words:

We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.

Knowledge of the 911 Good Samaritan Law and 911-calling behavior of overdose witnesses

Andrea Jakubowski MD; Hillary V. Kunins MD, MPH; Zina Huxley-Reicher BA; & Anne Siegler DrPH

Substance Abuse Vol. 39, Iss. 2, 2018

“We hope that our finding that knowledge of the 911 Good Samaritan Law is associated with bystanders calling 911 in response to witnessed overdose will encourage states to pass legislation that protects drug overdose victims and witnesses seeking help from arrest and prosecution for drug related charges. It is also noteworthy that participant knowledge of the Good Samaritan Law increased with repeated education, suggesting that overdose prevention refresher trainings and public information campaigns about the law may be important strategies to achieving widespread knowledge of it. Finally, our finding that lay-person naloxone administration was not associated with a reduction in the rate of bystanders calling 911 should allay concerns that naloxone distribution deters use of emergency medical services.”

The Authors’ Own Words: Use of Online Opioid Overdose Prevention Training for First Year Medical Students: A Comparative Analysis of Online vs In-Person training

Nov 21, 2019 by AMERSA

The Authors’ Own Words:

We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.

Use of Online Opioid Overdose Prevention Training for First Year Medical Students: A Comparative Analysis of Online vs In-Person training

Noah Berland, MD, MS; Daniel Lugassy, MD; Aaron Fox, MD, MS; Keith Goldfeld, DrPh; So-Young Oh, MS; Babak Tofighi, MD, MSc; & Kathleen Hanley, MD

Substance Abuse Vol. 40, Iss. 2, 2019

“Using conventional in-person education modalities to adding topics related to substance use disorders to medical school curriculum, or simply expanding training to greater numbers of individuals is challenging and often faculty intensive. In our article we demonstrate that online administered opioid overdose prevention training produced not meaningfully different outcomes from in-person administered opioid overdose prevention training. We believe that this provides evidence of further expanding opioid overdose prevention training by using online training modalities to be less resource intense and more easily disseminated. This article further adds to the new and growing research comparing online and in-person modalities for education.“

The Authors’ Own Words: Development and evaluation of a standardized research definition for opioid overdose outcomes

Nov 10, 2019 by AMERSA

The Authors’ Own Words:

We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.

Development and evaluation of a standardized research definition for opioid overdose outcomes

Ingrid A. Binswanger, MD, MPH, MS; Komal J. Narwaney, PhD; Edward M. Gardner, MD; Barbara A. Gabella, MSPH; Susan L. Calcaterra, MD, MPH; Jason M. Glanz, PhD

Substance Abuse Vol. 40, Iss. 1, 2019

“There is little consensus on how to verify opioid overdose outcomes for research purposes. To ensure reproducibility, minimize misclassification, and permit data harmonization across studies, standardized and consistent overdose definitions are needed. Thus, Binswanger and colleagues developed and evaluated a case criteria classification scheme for pharmaceutical opioid and heroin overdoses in two distinct health systems, using information commonly available in electronic health records. This scheme was compared with clinician impression and encounter documentation. This novel case criteria classification scheme for opioid overdose represents a potential option for a consistent and reproducible definition of overdose in multi-site research.“

The Authors’ Own Words: Amount of naloxone used to reverse opioid overdoses outside of medical practice in a city with increasing illicitly manufactured fentanyl in illicit drug supply

Nov 9, 2019 by AMERSA

The Authors’ Own Words:

We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.

Amount of naloxone used to reverse opioid overdoses outside of medical practice in a city with increasing illicitly manufactured fentanyl in illicit drug supply

Alice Bell, LCSW; Alex S. Bennett, PhD; T. Stephen Jones, MD; Maya Doe-Simkins, MPH; Leslie D. Williams, PhD

Substance Abuse Vol. 40, Iss. 1, 2019

“Even though illicitly manufactured fentanyls (IMF) is more potent than heroin and is a rapidly increasing contributor to drug overdose deaths in Allegheny County, the average dose of naloxone administered has not changed. Our findings are noteworthy because they differ from studies in different areas (MA, for example) also experiencing increasing IMF role in overdose deaths. What’s more, (uncorroborated) media reports about extreme potency of IMF and risks of workplace exposure abound and contribute an element of panic to the topic of opioid overdose and IMF. Our findings have two implications for practice: 1) reassurance that community overdose prevention programs’ naloxone rescue kits are effective in the context of IMF and 2) confirmation that additional investigations are needed to clarify the amount of naloxone necessary in IMF-involved overdoses.“