CDC: Naloxone use by emergency medical services up 75% in 4 years

Editor's Note

Naloxone administration by emergency medical services increased 75.1% between 2012 and 2016, mirroring a 79.7% increase in fatal opioid overdoes during the same time period, according to the August 10 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Young adults made up a growing share of naloxone administration events and opioid overdose deaths. More than 21% of naloxone recipients were aged 25 to 34 years in 2016, up from 17.2% in 2012.

Monitoring nonfatal overdose events using emergency medical services records provides a more complete evaluation of the injury burden and a means of benchmarking to better address the opioid epidemic, the authors say.