By JIM LANGHAM
News Correspondent
info@timesbulletin.com
At
a regular meeting of the local Families of Addicts group, Allen County
Public Health director Tami Gough gave a presentation on Lima’s Project
Dawn, a cooperative of statewide initiative designed to get narcan in
the hands of people who need to be immediately revived from an overdose
of opioids.
Gough explained that opioids are a group of drugs that
include prescription pain medications such as morphine, methadone,
codeine, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxycodone and buprenorphine.
Gough said that Vicodin, Lortab, Percocet, OxyContin, Dilaudid, and Demerol are also common brand names of opioids.
Heroin
is also an opioid. Gough said that Fentanyl is an opioid prescription
medication that is often manufactured illegally and mixed with heroin or
other street drugs.
“Anyone who uses high doses of opioid pain medication or uses opioids recreationally is at risk of overdose,” continued Gough.
Gough said that naloxone, also known as narcan, is a medication that can block the effects of opioids and reverse an overdose.
“Naloxone
is very safe and cannot be abused,” emphasized Gough. “If you give
naloxone to someone who is experiencing an opioid overdose, it will not
harm them. In Ohio, anyone can legally carry and administer naloxone.
“People
who are dependent on opioids may go into withdrawal when given
naloxone,” continued Gough. “Withdrawal, though unpleasant, is not
life-threatening. Naloxone does not reverse overdoses caused by alcohol,
cocaine, methamphetamines or other non-opioid drugs.” Gough said that
an individual experiencing an overdose may have such symptoms as
unresponsiveness, slow or shallow breaths (less than one breath every
six seconds) or not breathing at all. Other symptoms include choking,
snoring or gurgling sounds, blue grey, or ashen lips and fingernails,
pale or clammy face, slow, erratic or absent pulse, vomiting and
seizures.
“Using opioids in combination with other drugs such as
anti-depressants, benzodiazepines (such Xanax and Valium) or alcohol can
cause real risk factors in the mixing,” said Gough. “These drugs affect
your ability to breathe. Certain health conditions such as asthma,
liver or kidney disease, heart disease or HIV/AIDS can also be a strong
risk.”
Gough said that Allen County has initiated Project DAWN as a
network of Ohio-based drug overdose education and naloxone distribution
programs. Project DAWN provides take-home naloxone kits to the public
free of charge.
Such kits were provided to those attending Monday night’s meeting.
Gough
said that local health departments, such as the one in Allen County,
has been given the opportunity to expand Project Dawn in their local
area. “Almost every state does this now” said Gough.