REVIVEme

The American Public is Threatened by the Opioid Epidemic

There are approximately 295 drug overdose deaths each day, based on 107,941 overdose deaths in 2022. The number of overdose deaths from prescription and illicit opioids has significantly increased from 47,600 in 2017 to 80,186 in 2022.

As a result, today, people are more likely to die from accidental opioid overdoses (1 in 96 odds) than a car crash (1 in 103 odds).¹

Overdose deaths are increasingly occurring in teens. Twenty-two high school students a week die due to drug overdose, an entire classroom, mostly due to fentanyl. From July 2019 to December 2021, there was a 109% increase in overdose deaths in 10- to 19- year-olds: 2/3 of them had 1 or more bystanders, but they lacked overdose rescue skills or resources to help.²

We have reached a critical point of national suffering. It is not just limited to immediate loss of life at the scene. The suffering encompasses victims whose cardiac function remains, yet they are brain dead from lack of an oxygen supply. Current bystander CPR is hands-only chest compressions for an unconscious victim, rescue-breathing has fallen off the algorithm entirely. It takes critical minutes until the police or the EMS squad to arrive, which is a potential missed opportunity for intact survival if a bystander is unprepared. Drug overdose related brain death remains the single greatest increased etiology leading to organ donation over the past twenty years.

Dr. Bonnie Milas Shares Her Personal Experience

What ASA is Doing For You

There is a dire need for our communities to be prepared to respond to opioid overdoses in the home and in public spaces. We have made progress in making naloxone more available. But we must do more in order that everyone is educated and ready in how to completely rescue an opioid overdose victim.

• ASA member and cardiac anesthesiologist Bonnie Milas, MD, offered testimony for the approval of naloxone as a nonprescription countermeasure for opioid overdose  at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Joint Meeting of the Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee and the Anesthetics and Analgesic Drug Products Advisory Committee on February 15, 2023.
• In a February, 2023 letter to FDA, ASA conveyed its strong support for the approval of nonprescription status for naloxone hydrochloride nasal spray products. “Improving community access to naloxone nasal spray through over-the-counter use and implementing equitable access solutions are critical components of addressing the opioid epidemic. Increasing the availability of naloxone nasal spray, especially in communities across the country most impacted by drug overdoses, is a critical component of our efforts to reduce opioid-related overdose deaths and, when combined with the availability of effective treatment of opioid use disorder, to ending the opioid epidemic.”

What You Can Do Now

We invite you to join the REVIVEme initiative to reduce opioid and drug related mortality to ensure public education for detection, and intervention, and tools for rescue are widely available. When implemented in a coordinated fashion, these interventions will help to greatly reduce morbidity and mortality in the U.S. today. Resource materials for the public and physician use are provided here for free. Make a difference in the campaign to reduce opioid and drug related mortality today!

In March 2023, the FDA approved Naloxone’s availability over the counter (OTC)– the first 4 mg naloxone product approved for use without a prescription. Naloxone is an opioid reversal medication, which rapidly reverses opioid overdose.

First and foremost, everyone should keep this lifesaving medication, naloxone, in your home and have it with you in your daily life, perhaps in a purse, briefcase or backpack. Naloxone is available in pharmacies, various commercial stores, Amazon.com, county and city departments of health, fire and police departments and many libraries offer it for free.

Resource materials for the public and physician use are provided here for free. Make a difference in the campaign to reduce opioid and drug related mortality today!

Watch the Demonstration Video by Dr. Bonnie Milas

Countermeasures: The Opioid Crisis: New Podcast featuring Bonnie Milas, MD

The opioid crisis is the deadliest drug epidemic in U.S. history, its devastation reverberating through countless lives and communities. In Countermeasures, a podcast by Emergent, advocates and experts share the work they’re doing to reduce opioid overdose deaths, destigmatize dependency, and change the course of the opioid crisis. In this episode, hear from Dr. Bonnie Milas, anesthesiologist, intensivist, Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology & Critical Care Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center. Dr. Milas shares signs of opioid overdose, and what the public can do to be prepared to act in case of an accidental overdose.

Explore Additional Resources

This page is curated by the Committee on Trauma and Emergency Preparedness and was last updated on 8/19/24.

Thank you to the members of the Committee on Trauma and Emergency Preparedness and the REVIVEme Workgroup for their contributions to this effort.

References

¹Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2019 Annual Surveillance Report of Drug-Related Risks and Outcomes — United States Surveillance Special Report. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Published November 1, 2019. Accessed [02/15/2020] from cdc.gov [PDF].

²Friedman, J., & Hadland, S. E. (2024). The Overdose Crisis among U.S. Adolescents. New England Journal of Medicine, 390(2), 97–100. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmp2312084