The Seattle Fire Department has received a donation that could save hundreds of lives after a national medicine nonprofit has given the department 1,000 dosages of intramuscular naloxone to help the city combat fentanyl and opioid overdoses. Meanwhile, a FDA decision will make Narcan-brand naloxone available over the counter by the end of summer meaning the overdose-reversing medicine can be sold on the shelves at pharmacies, grocery stores, and corner markets.

SFD announced the donation last week:

“Naloxone is vital in our treatment of the many patients who find themselves in the grip of the opioid epidemic,” said Shata Stephenson, Acting Deputy Chief of Seattle Fire – Medic One. “Based on the scope of the problem here in the City of Seattle, Seattle Fire Department Firefighter/EMT-Bs have received authorization to deliver Naloxone intramuscularly. This donation is the very medicine we are prioritizing for this life-saving effort.”

Narcan, meanwhile, has been approved for over the counter sales starting later this year:

The approved nasal spray from Gaithersburg, Maryland-based Emergent BioSolutions is the best-known form of naloxone. It can reverse overdoses of opioids, including street drugs such as heroin and fentanyl and prescription versions including oxycodone. Making naloxone available more widely is seen as a key strategy to control the nationwide overdose crisis, which has been linked to more than 100,000 U.S. deaths a year. The majority of those deaths are tied to opioids, primarily potent synthetic versions such as fentanyl that can take multiple doses of naloxone to reverse.

In 2017, CHS reported on the growing need for naloxone as overdoses soared. The crisis has continued. In 2022, the county says nearly three people died every day of drug and alcohol poisoning. So far in 2023, that number is closer to four.

Fentanyl related overdoses are a core driver of the increase. Last year, CHS reported on growing but challenged efforts to make fentanyl test strips more widely available. The county said last month that 176 people had already died of fentanyl overdoses this year. The drug claimed more than 700 lives in 2022, according to the county.

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