For more than a year, Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center has been offering the free opioid overdose antidote Narcan in its emergency department, available to anyone, no questions asked.
The Burbank hospital recently enhanced this program, opening a Narcan kiosk outside the ER to help people maintain anonymity and save even more lives.
Angelique Campen, M.D., an emergency physician at Providence Saint Joseph, stressed the safety and effectiveness of Narcan, a nasal spray that blocks fentanyl and other opioids from their receptors in the brain that control breathing. Narcan is a brand name for naloxone.
Last year, more than 70,000 Americans suffered fatal overdoses using illegally made fentanyl. In 2022, it became the deadliest street drug in Los Angeles County.
Providence believes anonymous, unfettered access to free Narcan can cut those numbers. And ensuring privacy to anyone, no age limit, no prescription and no identification necessary, will encourage more people to carry Narcan with them just in case.
Dr. Campen stressed that Narcan is also effective for accidental prescription opioid overdoses. Some cancer patients, she said, are prescribed opioids such as OxyContin for pain.
Providence Saint Joseph has provided nearly 3,000 of the two-dose boxes of Narcan since last year. The medication is provided by the state Department of Health Care Services’ CA Bridge program that was formed to address drug mis-use treatment.
