Responding To An Opioid Overdose
Arming employees with knowledge to help in a crisis
By Joshua Schneider
In the event of a medical emergency, who is the best person to respond? We’ve all watched the scenes from medical dramas—first responders rushing to the scene of an emergency with flashing lights and blaring sirens. Paramedics jumping out of an ambulance and racing to a patient’s side, providing lifesaving care while helpless bystanders look on. This image may seem familiar, but is this really what a response to a medical emergency looks like?
© Can Stock Photo / serrnovik
The reality is that first responders are often not the first to arrive on a scene. Bystanders and good Samaritans arrive well before an emergency responder and rarely hesitate to jump into action to assist in any way they can. Bystanders are not simply helpless onlookers; they are capable helpers who—when empowered with training and resources—can use basic skills to save lives. No people understand this better than those who work in parks and public spaces.
A Unique Role
Parks and recreation employees are dedicated professionals who keep public spaces safe. These spaces are the centerpieces of community life, giving the people who manage them extraordinary insight and reach into the residents and the communities. Beyond their physical presence, parks and recreation employees play a unique role in the lives of the city of Pittsburgh residents and have become intimately familiar with the issues facing the most vulnerable citizens, many of whom play in public spaces.
The opioid-overdose crisis is one such issue that has caused significant mortality in the city. To respond to the crisis, the city’s newly created Office of Community Health and Safety resolved to provide overdose-prevention training to all city employees who regularly interact with the public. This includes providing staff members with naloxone, an over-the-counter nasal spray that reverses the effects of opioids and can save the life of someone experiencing an overdose. Recognizing their proximity to the crisis and the degree to which they are embedded in the community, employees of the Pittsburgh Department of Parks and Recreation were some of the first to receive this training.
The overdose-prevention initiative began in summer 2021, and the initial training was conducted with lifeguards at all of the city’s public pools. During those months, the pools are some of the most trafficked recreation spaces, and lifeguards are tasked with ensuring the safety of all patrons. During the course of the training sessions, it became clear how well-suited lifeguards are for this training. Not only do they collectively cross paths with hundreds of residents each day, but they are well-attuned to the health and social issues facing residents.
Charles, a head lifeguard at Ammon Recreation Center in the city’s Hill District, spoke to the responsibility of recreation staff in providing for the health, safety, and well-being of the people they serve. Before the training began, Charles noted that, during the summer months, Ammon Recreation Center is a second summer home to many children and families. He noted that lifeguards play an important role in the lives of their neighbors, and this special relationship makes it all the more important to respond quickly when the people need them most. All parks and recreation employees, not just lifeguards, are specially positioned to help address these issues.
Photo: Ava Roberts / Intern, Office of Mayor William Peduto (Bottom)
Training Insights
Providing overdose-prevention training to parks and recreation staff members brings great value and increases safety. Following are some key points from the city’s overdose-prevention training program:
Recognizing the signs and symptoms of an opioid overdose
Administering naloxone
Caring for someone after an opioid overdose.
It was important that the training be conducted by someone with direct experience in caring for overdose victims, and who has a clear understanding of the environment in which parks and recreation employees operate. The city’s sessions were provided by the Overdose Prevention Coordinator, who is certified as both a paramedic and a lifeguard [formerly]. This background provided greater insight into the situational factors that lifeguards face when providing care, and allowed the training to be tailored to responders taking action in uncontrolled, often hectic environments.
Lifeguards already have the advantage of knowing first aid and CPR as covered in their lifeguard course; however, the majority of parks and recreation employees have little medical experience. The aim of the overdose-prevention training course is to provide simple instructions that give individuals a basic skill they can implement, as well as supply sufficient background information to know when that skill can be safely and appropriately applied. Providing too much information can be overwhelming and cause critical pieces to become lost. Similar to other successful bystander training efforts, such as hands-only CPR or Stop The Bleed, overdose-prevention training sessions last no longer than one hour and are centered on one main skill (naloxone administration). Above all, participants should feel confident in the skills they are learning and understand that doing something to help in the event of a crisis is always better than doing nothing.
Anyone Can Make A Difference
First responders are not the only people who can make an impact when faced with an emergency. Putting basic knowledge in the hands of regular people who are well positioned to respond when a crisis occurs is what will truly produce the greatest impact.
Joshua Schneider, BS, NRP, is the Overdose Prevention Coordinator for the Office of Community Health & Safety in Pittsburg, Penn. Reach him at joshua.schneider@pittsburghpa.gov.