TOPIC:
IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION ALLOWING NALOXONE (NARCAN) TRAINING TO
BE AVAILABLE TO LAYPERSONS
SUBMITTED BY:
Stony Brook University
Student Nurses’ Association, Stony Brook, NY
AUTHORS:
Allen Chu and Samara Kravitz
WHEREAS,
Opioid addiction and related drug overdose deaths are a persistent and growing
public health problem for Americans (Volkow, 2014); and
Drug overdose death rates have been rising, nearly doubling from 1999 through
2013, and have become the leading cause of injury death in the United States
(Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014); and
Prescription drug overdose is now the leading cause of accidental death in the
United States – surpassing motor vehicle accidents (U.S. Food and Drug
Administration, 2014); and
An estimated 69,000 people worldwide die each year from opioid overdose
(World Health Organization, 2014); and
More than 16,000 lives in the United States are lost each year due to opioidrelated overdoses (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2014); and
Naloxone (Narcan) is an opioid antagonist that has high affinity for mureceptors, which is responsible for the pleasurable effects of opioids, their painrelieving properties, and the respiratory depression that makes opioid overdose
dangerous (Straus, Ghitza, & Tai, 2013); and
Naloxone (Narcan) has no abuse liability or potential for misuse (UW Alcohol &
Drug Abuse Institute, 2015); and
Naloxone can reverse the symptoms of an opioid overdose and if administered
to someone who has not experienced an opioid overdose, it will not cause harm
(World Health Organization, 2014; Naloxone Info, 2013); and
In 2013, New York’s Suffolk County’s police personnel and EMTs administered
naloxone 594 times saving the lives of those who would have otherwise
overdosed (New York State Office of the Attorney General, 2014); therefore be
it
WHEREAS,
WHEREAS,
WHEREAS,
WHEREAS,
WHEREAS,
WHEREAS,
WHEREAS,
WHEREAS,
RESOLVED,
that the National Student Nurses’ Association (NSNA) encourage its constituents
to collaborate with other professional organizations to further support
legislation mandating availability of naloxone (Narcan) training for friends and
bystanders of those who have an opioid addiction, and be it further
RESOLVED,
that the NSNA encourage its local members to hold meetings or forums on this
topic to, if feasible, increase the education of opioid use and effectiveness of
naloxone (Narcan), and be it further
RESOLVED,
that the NSNA encourage members to write their state representatives
urging the passage of legislation supporting naloxone (Narcan) training to
families, bystanders, and laypersons and request meetings, when available, to
discuss the importance of such legislation, and be it further
RESOLVED,
that the NSNA include updates and calls to actions related to legislation
that encourage naloxone (Narcan) training to friends, families, and laypersons of
those who have opioid overdose in NSNA broadcast emails when relevant; and
be it further
RESOLVED,
that the NSNA send a copy of this resolution to the American Academy of
Nursing, American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family
Physicians, American Association of Colleges of Nursing, American Association
of Critical Care Nurses, American Nurses Association, American Hospital
Association, American Public Health Association, American Red Cross,
Association of Public Health Nurses, National League of Nursing, Emergency
Nurses Association, Sigma Theta Tau International, National Association of
Neonatal Nurses, National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, National
Association of School Nurses, International Nurses Society on Addictions, and
others deemed appropriate by the NSNA Board of Directors.