Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #113792

Monique Glover Rucker, MPH¹, Michele Brown¹, and Peter L. Beilenson, MD, MPH². (1) Administration, Baltimore City Health Department, 210 Guilford Avenue, Office of the Commissioner, Baltimore, MD 21202, 410-396-4398, monique.rucker@baltimorecity.gov, (2) Baltimore City Department of Health, 210 Guilford Ave., 3rd Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202

For the past ten years, Baltimore city has ranked among the highest US cities in terms of heroin-related emergency department drug episodes. In 2002, Baltimore had the highest overdose mortality rates of any U.S. city.

The Staying Alive Program is an opiate overdose prevention, pilot program of the Baltimore City Health Department that addresses the alarming public health problem of high incidences of opiate overdose in Baltimore City. Launched on April 28, 2004, the program combines educational awareness training on overdose prevention with instruction on practical intervention techniques for saving lives in the event of an overdose.

The goals of the program are (1) to reduce the annual incidence of opiate-related overdose deaths by at least 10%; (2) to increase knowledge about overdose prevention and management among injection drug users by conducting educational trainings; and (3) to train and equip injection drug users with naloxone kits and document their effectiveness. The program uses a harm reduction approach to teach the risk factors, symptoms, and prevention options for opiate overdose. The program prescribes participants Narcan to be used to revive a person near death from an opiate overdose. Narcan is the trade name for naloxone, a drug given intravenously to reverse or prevent the effects of opiates, including respiratory depression, sedation, and low blood.

As of January 26, 2005, the program has trained 457 individuals and 43 lives have been saved. The goal of this initial pilot program is to train at least 527 individuals and to save 53 lives.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

• Develop a drug overdose prevention program based on the model used in this program.
• Identify the keys to developing a successful program targeting injection drug users and their partners.
• Understand the challenges of implementing a drug overdose prevention program.

Keywords: Injection Drug Users, Drug Use

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation