New web app could help prevent SLO County overdose deaths. Here’s how it works
Local health advocates have partnered to create a brand new web app that will give community members fast access to an overdose-reversing medication that could ultimately help save lives.
The San Luis Obispo County Behavioral Health Department and SLO Opioid Safety Coalition on Tuesday announced the launch of their new application, Naloxone Now, which will help community members find the closest place to get naloxone (also called Narcan).
It could also deliver naloxone to their location at no cost, according to a news release from Cal Poly.
The Cal Poly Digital Transformation Hub (DxHub) and a team of students designed the application, according to the release. Cal Poly biological sciences professor Candace Winstead, who also works with the SLO Bangers Syringe Service/Overdose Prevention Program, also assisted with the application, according to the release.
The project comes at an urgent time.
Fatal opioid overdoses increased by more than 30% nationwide during the coronavirus pandemic, according to the release.
In California, 5,502 deaths in 2020 were related to opioids, according to the California Department of Public Health Overdose Surveillance Dashboard. A significant proportion of those deaths were related to fentanyl, a highly potent synthetic opioid that has been found in illicit substances at an increasing rate in recent years.
According to the release, experts believe the latest spike in deaths is related to the increased prevalence of fentanyl.
The toll of opioid deaths is felt in San Luis Obispo County, where overdose deaths doubled from 21 in 2019 to 55 in 2020, according to the release.
Naloxone is a medication that can be administered to a person who overdoses on opioids to restore breathing until medical care arrives, according to the Naloxone Now website. The medication works almost immediately, has no potential for abuse, and has no effect on a person who does not have opioids in their system.
The web app offers overdose response training and a free naloxone kit that can be delivered.
“Thanks to the DxHub, our community members will be able to access naloxone and learn how to administer it without fear of stigma or judgment,” SLO Opioid Safety Coalition coordinator Jenn Rhoads said in the release. “We’ll be able to get naloxone in the hands of anyone who needs it, whether they are struggling with addiction themselves or trying to protect a friend, family member or neighbor.”
Community members can access the web app at naloxonenowslo.org.
