Fargo Cass Public Health shares importance of opioid overdose training in the workplace

FARGO — Bosses and managers may not realize the importance of having their workforce trained in administering naloxone which could save a life.

That is why Fargo Cass Public Health offers free training.

They say one in four people who are prescribed opioids from a doctor will struggle with addiction.

Naloxone can restart breathing in a person overdosing on opioids.

Fargo Cass Public Health also provides free doses of naloxone.

Last year, over 400 doses were distributed at the harm reduction center.

Many people later reported using that naloxone to save a life.

“For opioids, we do have a medication. We have naloxone. Narcan is a name brand of that. That is a nasal spray. It reverses an opioid overdose and it restores someone’s breathing,” said Robyn Litke Sall with Fargo Cass Public Health. “And anyone can administer it. I mean, all you do is insert this into someone’s nose and you push the plunger in. That’s it. It is so lifesaving.”

She stresses that while naloxone will help a person overdosing on opioids, it will not help someone overdosing on other drugs, like cocaine or meth.