Overdose Research Paper

Did you know that more than 47,000 people die from overdose in the US every year? This number is 137% higher since the year 2000. There is a huge drug problem in the US and there is not much that is being done about it. This is why interventions are now being made in the EMS community. Advocates are pushing for more invasive measures for all members of public safety. Nearly half a million people have in the last 15 years due to overdose and that number is on the rise. Drugs are becoming a bigger problem every day and more people are dying because of it. This paper will discuss how EMS is responding to the growing drug problem, what drugs are being used and how they affect the human body, and what an overdose is and how it is handled by an EMS worker. I chose this topic because drugs are one of the biggest issues in the United States, but it also one of the hardest to get under control. Law enforcement confiscates thousands of kilograms of illegal drugs each year but this is just a small portion of the drugs actually in the US. These drugs are dangerous and cause serious side effects including …show more content…
This apparent miracle drug works by clearing the brain’s opioid receptors of any opioids taken by the patient. This will allow the patient to breathe normally and regain consciousness within about 5 minutes. Narcan can be given three different ways; intramuscular, intravenous, and the easier but less common way, nasally. Technically anybody can administer Narcan nasally even without medical training. You simply lie the patient on their back and spray the drug into one or both nostrils. Although Naloxone is easy to administer it is not a replacement for medical treatment. It takes about 30 minutes for Narcan to start to wear off and after 90 minutes the effects will be mostly absent. The patient will return to have difficulty breathing and may lose