Bystanders Can Use Naloxone and Smartphone App to Reverse Heroin Overdose: Study

A new study finds bystanders equipped with the opioid overdose antidote naloxone, along with a smartphone app, can reverse a heroin overdose.

Researchers at Bar Ilan University in Israel and Drexel University in Philadelphia enrolled 200 volunteers who agreed to be paged if a person overdosed near them. The app was activated by volunteers witnessing an overdose to signal other nearby volunteers. The volunteers agreed to administer naloxone, guided by a smartphone app with videos and other resources, the researchers report in eClinical Medicine.

Over the course of one year, just over one-third of the volunteers responded to an overdose. In 60% of cases, they beat emergency responder teams, and had already administered naloxone more than five minutes before the EMTs arrived, The Times of Israel reports.

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams issued a national advisory in 2018 urging more Americans to carry and become familiar with how to administer naloxone. The call was not widely met, the article notes.