The HSE has launched a potentially life-saving new programme in Cork to provide naloxone, a medicine that can reverse an opioid overdose, directly to people who have overdosed but decline ambulance transport to hospital.<\/p>\n
Led by Dr Daragh Mathews, Emergency Medicine Doctor at Cork University Hospital, the National Ambulance Service\u2019s Alternative Prehospital Pathway (APP) is launching a team that includes a doctor who can provide a naloxone take-home pack, ensuring this medication reaches those most at risk.<\/p>\n
In 2024, the HSE supplied 6,944 units of naloxone to services nationwide and trained 2,330 people in overdose awareness and naloxone administration in collaboration with community partners.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis new service can save lives by getting naloxone into the hands of people who need it most, when it\u2019s needed,\u201d Dr Mathews said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor someone who has just experienced an overdose, even if they choose not to go to hospital, a witness having access to naloxone could mean a vital second chance.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Professor Eamon Keenan, national clinical lead for HSE Addiction Services welcomed the new APP Take Home Naloxone pilot.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will improve access to naloxone for people who use drugs in the community, and this is a key factor in reducing overdose deaths in our society,” he said. If successful, the pilot may be rolled out in other areas, Prof. Keenan said.<\/p>\n
Naloxone is a prescription medication used to temporarily reverse the effects of opioid drugs including heroin, morphine, codeine, methadone and synthetic opioids (for example nitazenes).<\/p>\n
The most recent data from the National Drug-Related Deaths Index (NDRDI) recorded 354 drug poisoning deaths in 2021, a decrease from 439 drug poisoning deaths in 2020.<\/p>\n
Opioids (mainly methadone) were the most common drug group reported, accounting for 70% of deaths in 2021.<\/p>\n
The majority of deaths involved prescribable drugs, the most common being methadone (129), diazepam (112), alprazolam (107), pregabalin (83), and Zopiclone (59).\u00a0<\/p>\n
Naloxone works by displacing opioid molecules from their receptors in the body and brain. There are two types of naloxone available in Ireland \u2013 a nasal spray and an intramuscular injection.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The HSE has launched a potentially life-saving new programme in Cork to provide naloxone, a medicine that can…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":105376,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[24066,75793,64,63,137,3945,490],"class_list":{"0":"post-105375","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-cork-news","9":"tag-drugs-crisis","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-hse","14":"tag-medication"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}