Kaiser Permanente gives out free Narcan to prevent opioid overdoses

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Kaiser Permanente is taking action to help with the Valley's opioid epidemic.

Every Northern California hospital, including in Fresno, is now handing out Narcan to the public.

The Central Valley is struggling with an opioid crisis - similar to the rest of the country.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, opioid overdoses are now the leading cause of death for adults ages 18 to 45 years old.

Kaiser Permanente in Fresno is seeing it firsthand.

"We don't see as heavily as we used to, but we do still see people from the community coming in with the effects of opioid overdose," said Chris Davis.

Davis works at Kaiser's emergency department, where the new effort is underway to reduce overdoses and deaths.

Anyone can go inside the ED and get the Narcan nasal spray, which reverses the effects of an opioid emergency.

"You don't need a prescription. You don't need a doctor's order or anything like that. You can just come in and ask," Davis said. "We also hand them out to patients discharged. If our nurses can use their nursing judgment, and they can provide patients that maybe we feel might benefit from it."

Fresno's ED has handed out 250 devices and it just reordered more from the State of California.

"We receive the devices from the State of California free of charge, and we hand them out to people free of charge," Davis said. "The idea is that we get as many devices as we can out in the community to help prevent any overdoses."

Kaiser staff will give everyone a brief demo of the device, and it's fairly simple to use.

"You put it in the nose, you squeeze it, and it typically applies the medication to their nose," explained Davis. "From there, the medication goes into the system."

Kaiser knows the opioid overdoses aren't completely solved by the nasal spray. Staff is also taking action to get those experiencing opioid use into treatment.

"We have our addiction medicine and recovery services. If you're not a member, we can provide you with resources out in the community," Davis shared.

Kaiser Permanente has given out 3,500 Narcan doses in Northern California since it started receiving shipments from the State about a year ago.

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