According to King County, “By October 15, 2022, 710 overdose deaths had occurred in King County, surpassing the total number of overdose deaths that occurred in 2021. The recent surge in overdose deaths is driven by fentanyl, which is involved in 70% of all confirmed overdose deaths that have occurred to date in 2022, up from under 10% prior to 2018.”
While most opioid overdoses occur in Seattle, East King County has also experienced increasing overdose rates.
With the dramatic rise in opioid use, addiction, and overdoses across our region, the Snoqualmie Fire Dept. will offer a new Opioid Education and Opioid Overdose Reversal Training Class on Monday, June 19, 2023, from 6-7 pm in the Fire Station Training Room, 37600 Snoqualmie Parkway.
In this one-hour class, participants will learn about multiple situations that can lead to an opioid overdose, how to recognize potential and actual opioid overdose situations, and how to respond to an opioid overdose to save a life.
Participants will be trained to administer the lifesaving and opioid-reversing drug Naloxone and be provided with a Naloxone emergency medication kit at the completion of training.
Education topics include:
- Who is at risk?
- The opioid family of drugs.
- Overview of the opioid public health crisis.
- Examples of fentanyl-laced common pharmaceutical pills that can be deadly.
- Action to take to save a life and reverse an opioid overdose.
- Overview of Good Samaritan laws that offer protection from lawsuits or prosecution while helping others and protecting the opioid user from arrest.
In recent years, Washington State, and the Puget Sound region, including the Snoqualmie Valley, have seen a dramatic increase in opioid use, addiction, and overdoses.
Opioid overdoses can be unintentional. Someone on prescribed pain pills can accidentally take too many. Someone can stop taking pain pills for fear of addiction but then restart and overdose on the same number of pills previously taken for pain control. Opioid pills can be accidentally mixed up or confused with other drugs.
Many people are trained in CPR/AED to save a life. We use fire extinguishers to suppress fires. This class is designed to prepare residents with the knowledge and tools to save a loved one from an opioid overdose.
Reserve your space in this new Opioid Education and Overdose Reversal Training Class by registering online today. The class is limited to 30 participants. Class participants must be 14 or older.
For more information, call 425-888-1551 or email fireprevention@snoqualmiewa.gov
