Life saver

Pharmacist uses her naloxone kit knowledge to reverse an overdose.

Edmonton pharmacist Eman Saleh was aware that the ongoing opioid crisis is being exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. She had watched news stories about it, and then a few weeks after those stories, she experienced it firsthand in her pharmacy.

One evening in August, a man walked into the pharmacy and asked for a naloxone kit. This is not unusual at Eman's pharmacy, but this was unlike any other request.

"I looked up, and I saw him sitting down. He could barely sit up straight. I asked him what was going on, and he asked us to give him naloxone because he had just overdosed," explained Eman.

"At first I was a little shocked, as I've never been in that situation," continued Eman. "It's a regular thing that we have people coming in and asking for kits – but then when I heard him asking 'can you give it [naloxone] to me', I looked and thought, ‘oh dear.’"

Eman took the man into a counselling room. He exposed his thigh without being asked. She gave him a dose. He tried to convince her to give him the second dose right away and not call 911. Eman stuck to the protocol and made him wait for the five minutes before administering the second dose, and she called 911.

"He's slowly dozing off within those five minutes, and I'm trying to keep him awake. I've got a hand on him," remembers Eman.  "And then I gave him his second dose and within 30 seconds, it's almost like he woke up, grabbed some tissues, wiped his face and said, 'I'm good.'"

The man did stay at the pharmacy and allowed the paramedics to check and monitor him. This care, and the naloxone, avoided a trip to the hospital. As the man left though, Eman made sure he had a naloxone kit to take with him.