During a routine walk through the housing unit, you see someone on the floor. As you walk closer, you find she’s barely breathing. When you call out her name, she doesn’t respond, and as you motion toward her shoulders to shake her, you see that her fingernails are blue. Could this be an appropriate time to administer Naloxone?
As part of a national effort to help reduce opioid deaths among incarcerated individuals, the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) launched Naloxone Administration, a new e-course that describes how to identify the potential risks and hazards of exposure to opioids and actions that correctional staff can take to minimize risk to engaging in life saving methods.
“The opioid epidemic is still significant and still bares its presence,” says Mike Ward, NIC’s learning specialist who designed the new e-course.
More than 90 Americans die daily due to opioid overdoses, with a death every 21 minutes. Drug-related deaths are one of the top three causes of mortality in jails, and the number of people who died in prison due to drugs rose over 600% between 2001 and 2018. [1],[2]
Originally designed exclusively for the Bureau of Prisons, the NIC e-course was later remade to be accessible to corrections staff nationwide. “With NIC’s national reach,” Ward says, “this course provides awareness, [helps a respondent] identify signs and symptoms, and prepares a respondent to address an opioid overdose…on a greater scale.”
Naloxone Administration is designed to prepare someone to effectively respond to an opioid emergency by identifying the signs and symptoms of possible opioid overdose. Step-by-step instructions and scenarios outline the use and application of the opioid antagonist Naloxone. Key steps in the administration of Naloxone are presented with both videos and illustrations. And if desired, students can have text-based content read aloud simply by clicking a button.
Naloxone Administration meets the requirements for certification of the application of Naloxone. You can find the e-course in the NIC Learn Center.
[1] Fiscella, K., Noonan, et. al. Drug- and Alcohol-Associated Deaths in U.S. Jails. Journal of Correctional Health Care, 2020 April; 26(2): 183-193.
[2] Carson, EA. Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001-2018 – Statistical Tables, 2021 April. NCJ 255970.
