Three Strikes and You' re DEAD! The Controversy Surrounding Narcotic Overdose Reversal
It seems as though the harder the DEA, FDA and Federal Government try to crack down on the use of narcotics the worse the epidemic of abuse becomes.
And with the increased use of narcotics comes the increased number of opioid-related deaths. Opioid overdose causes opioid induced respiratory depression. This is a life threatening situation resulting in hypoxia which in turn leads to brain damage in as little as 4 minutes. In response to this statistic Naloxone, a drug that reverses opioid overdose, is being used more and more frequently.
"9-1-1 What is your emergency?"
"Help, I think my boyfriend just O-D-ed"
This scenario is far more common then many realize.
In fact, many emergency responders are being dispatched for this or similar situations as many as 10 times per day. And in these situations the fire department and EMS are required by law to provide Naloxone. As you can imagine, the cost to a city to continually administer this medication is reaching record levels. The disheartening part of this situation is that many emergency calls for opioid overdose are from repeat offenders. So realistically a person can overdose, be given the reversal medication, and in just a few short days be back to abusing.
No harm no foul, right?....... WRONG!
City officials in certain parts of the country are considering adopting a "three strikes and you're out" policy in regards to the overwhelming numbers of emergency response calls for opioid overdose.
When a call is received indicating a possible overdose, the dispatcher must first determine if the person is part of the overdose program (meaning emergency services have previously been dispatched to them for an overdose situation). In this proposed program the offender is responsible for completing community service to cover the cost of the emergency call. If it is determined by the dispatcher that the offender has had emergency services dispatched twice prior and the community service debt equivalent to the monetary value of the emergency services has not been met..... then no emergency service crews will be notified...........
Can this really happen? Can we just ignore a call for help?
"Three strikes and you're dead" This sounds like the catch phrase for a cheesy horror movie. But I assure you it is soon to become a reality.
I love your writing and graphics! Well done.
If you answered that phone, could you put it down without dispatching help? I would not want to have to make that call.
I'm sure those people that are responsible for making that decision will have to be highly screened. It would be a very tough call.
This is so sad and thought provoking. Addiction is such a hard thing to overcome and something so many people deal with on a daily basis. I'd like to think that everyone is worth the effort to continuously save but this does bring up the interesting point of 'at what cost'? What a scary thought! Really interesting!
That's what it comes down to... cost of services versus cost of life
great !
Thank you @himal