ER tech here.   You are insane if you think of giving that to someone without support and a backup plan. The bulk of them become violent, and you cant restrain them yourself as that in and of itself is a crime.

Random people get a friendly 911 call and cpr if needed.  Im not gonna run around trying to save people.

If you think Junkies are the only people who need Narcan you are being naive.

Surgeon General was on Fox this am advocating people carry this stuff, injectable or nasal spray.  He said you can just go in and buy it in 49 states.

I was thinking: Huh?  A school nurse cannot dispense a Tylenol without parental permission.  And we are supposed to administer something to an unconscious stranger when we don't know for sure why they are down?

I am sure that ambulance chasing lawyers are just waiting for the first opportunity.

Good Samaritan law will not protect you if you do things beyond your training.

You’re better off buying an ambu bag and learning to bag while waiting till paramedics arrive.

There are however serious side effects for those that do have an opiate in their system. First off is the immediate rage you’re going to get by not titrating to the return of spontaneous breathing but rather to fill consciousness.  That sudden burst of strength while you’re not prepared puts you behind the 8 ball in a hurry.  More rare but could also induce flash pulmonary edema (yes I’ve actually seen it happen) and that’s something that you’re not fixing by yourself and realistically made them worse.

There are documented cases of PD and others having contact reactions, most of these are related to it being aerosolized or stirred up in a very confined area.  Lots of reports of the contact OD’s are coming out to be more psychosomatic than an actual OD, it took pharmaceutical companies a long time and lots of money to develop the Fentanyl patch, it’s not something as easily absorbed as most people think.

I’m a medic and on our SWAT team, I do carry Narcan in my bag that rides around with me but that’s cause it’s the bag that doubles as my drop bag on warrants and such.  You could do much more by carrying some NPA’s and a pocket mask or BVM than by carrying narcan and put yourself at much less risk both due to physical injury or legal hassle.

This just seems like a fantastically bad idea all around.

This.  I don't worry about accidental exposure on the job.

Most places you can go, addicts can go. They don't have to leave behind needles. Some synthetic opioids are strong enough to be absorbed through the skin and could be fatal. Ever take something out of your pocket and drop something else? Drug users can do that too.

So on the one hand, it's possible for your kids to OD without being in any sort of an unusual setting, making narcan seem like a handy thing to have. On the other, you're not likely to recognize their sudden problems as drug overdose in those settings.

Either way, you're WAY more likely to come into contact with synthetic opioids when assisting a random OD victim, which makes that a pretty bad idea unless you've got a dose for yourself and a buddy who can help you.

Nope.