Overdose Awareness Week
End overdose graphic
The opioid crisis is real, and the statistics are staggering and alarming. Since 2014, the nation has seen a 178% increase in fatal opioid overdoses. In fact, more Americans died last year from drug overdoses than died in the entire Vietnam War.
The opioid crisis has hit the Washington, DC area particularly hard. During Overdose Awareness Week, August 26-30, 2019, the health professionals at the Washington DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center are helping to spread the word to DC-area Veterans that overdoses are preventable. Help is available; including life-saving Naloxone, an overdose antidote that can be easily administered to victims without a physician or medical professional.
According to Paige Mathew, a VISN 5 Academic Detailing Clinical Pharmacist, there may be unnecessary stigma surrounding Opioid Use Disorder (OUD), which is a chronic disease that anyone can develop. Veterans may not know that they can seek treatment or even ask for a naloxone (Narcan) prescription to keep on hand. “We hope to educate Veterans on the risks with opioid medications and reduce the stigma of asking for help,” said Mathew.
“Though a Veteran may not be at immediate risk for opioid overdose, they may know someone or have a family member who is. It’s a public safety issue, and having Naloxone on hand could save a life,” Mathew said.
Since the VA began its free nationwide Naloxone program, more than 300,000 prescriptions for the nasal spray have been distributed to Veterans.
Locally, the DC VA Medical Center Pharmacy Service has been hosting monthly Naloxone outreach events and has distributed more than 150 kits to Veterans, family members and caregivers. The kits contain the life-saving medication and detailed instructions along with an easy-to-understand YouTube Video (just search “VA Narcan”). The prescription is also available from any VA health care provider.
DC is now fourth in the nation among overdose deaths. With no signs of slowing down, DC currently has the highest increase in overdose deaths among urban areas in the U.S. Jasmine Carpenter, Mental Health Pharmacist with Washington DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center says DC’s OUD population is different from the national average. “Nationwide, the average OUD patients are age 25-44 years old. In DC, most are 50-60 years old,” Carpenter said. “OUD is no longer a young person’s disorder, it spans all ages, ethnicities, gender and social class.”
Carpenter says the overdose rate in DC is directly linked to mixing prescription opiates with alcohol and other drugs and the use of synthetic opiates like Fentanyl. Some of the illicit synthetic drugs are 50 times more potent than heroin.
“With synthetic opiates, the speed that an overdose occurs is so fast, there is a very limited window of opportunity to get help,” Carpenter said. With a heroin overdose, it may take 20 minutes before the person goes into respiratory distress and unconsciousness. With synthetic opioids, overdose can occur as quickly as three or four minutes after use. “This makes the availability of Naloxone even more important.”
On Wednesday, August 28, team members of the medical center’s Pharmacy Service and the Substance Abuse Recovery Program (SARP) will host on Overdose Awareness Fair in the Atrium of the DC VA Medical Center from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Pharmacists will be on hand to discuss opiate safety one-on-one with Veterans and their family members. SARP members will provide information about residential and day treatment, antagonist treatments, and the methadone clinic as well as alternative treatments for pain.
The medical center’s multidisciplinary team is working to overt the opioid crisis on a number of fronts: working with prescribers on risk mitigation, drug screenings and education and offering integrated health and wellness programs for pain management like yoga, acupuncture, chiropractic and mindfulness training.
For more information on OUD and preventing overdose, please speak with your VA health care provider. If you know any Veterans at-risk for opioid overdose, please let them know that Naloxone is available to them for free and encourage them to request it from their VA health care provider.
