At least two dozen Hill staffers got trained Wednesday on how to recognize an opioid overdose and administer naloxone, an over-the-counter drug, to reverse it.
“If you’re here, that means we’re going to save more lives,” Rep. David Trone (D-Md.), one of the four co-chairs of the Bipartisan Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Task Force which organized the training, told staffers gathered in the Agriculture Committee room in Longworth.
Trone recalled how one of his staffers saved someone’s life with naloxone on their way to work a few years ago.
Why it matters: Some 110,000 people died of a drug overdose last year, according to CDC estimates, a record high. Most of the deaths were caused by illicit fentanyl, a synthetic opioid stronger than heroin which can kill people when taken in very small amounts.
“One in five fatalities could be saved with Narcan,” Trone said, using the brand name for naloxone.
Four medical students from Georgetown University, who are part of the Hoya DOPE Project, explained to staffers when and how naloxone should be administered.
This is the second annual naloxone training the bipartisan task force has organized.
