New California Bill to Strengthen Opioid Overdose Prevention Training for Employees

The proposal would require any employees who are required to maintain CPR-certification for their jobs to also take a mandatory Narcan training video to increase the overdose intervention rates for laypeople.

• Annie Keys
• [email protected]

SACRAMENTO, CA - Today, Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco), announced AB 2150, which will require staff that require CPR-certification for their occupations to also take a mandatory Narcan training course provided by the American Heart Association and American Red Cross. This bill will strengthen intervention, reduce response time, and increase the number of lives saved. The opioid overdose epidemic continues to plague Californians, disproportionately impacting youth. Many of these overdoses occur in public settings where CPR-certified staff are already present. By equipping staff with the appropriate tools to identify an overdose, the procedural steps for how to administer Naloxone at the scene, this streamlines response time, and effectively restores breathing within 2-3 minutes.

"Every year, the rates of opioid-related deaths continue to climb. Californians are losing their family members and loved ones to these preventable tragedies. These overdoses target our most vulnerable community members, often occurring in areas where staff that have CPR certifications are around," said Assemblymember Haney, the bill's author. AB 2150 will tackle the overdose crisis, equipping staff with the appropriate tools and skills to catch a potential overdose and reverse it in minutes."

Rather than waiting for prolonged periods for emergency personnel to reverse an overdose, increasing the number of laypeople to receive Narcan training will effectively streamline the response time, minutes that mean the difference between life and death. With the enactment of AB 1976, which requires workplaces to carry Naloxone in their first aid kits, AB 2150 will seamlessly tie in accessibility and procedural intervention by ensuring individuals are not only equipped with lifesaving medication, but also trained to properly administer it during an overdose emergency.

"The punishment for drug use should never be death. Fentanyl has turned accidental overdose into a death sentence for too many Californians, not because help was out of reach, but because the people nearby did not know how to act. More than 40% of opioid overdose deaths happen with bystanders present who want to intervene and simply do not know how. Naloxone works. It reverses overdoses in the vast majority of cases," said Robb Layne, Executive Director, California Association of Alcohol and Drug Program Executives (CAADPE). "AB 2150 makes sure more Californians know how to use it, particularly in underserved communities where fewer resources already mean lower chances of survival. CAADPE is proud to sponsor this legislation because our members see it every day: recovery is possible, intervention saves lives, and no one should die from a mistake that could have been prevented."

Many of these overdoses are impacting our most vulnerable populations, including low-income communities and people of color. This bill will equip laypeople and community members across the state with the tools to confidently administer Naloxone and intervene when every second counts.

"Tens of thousands of people in the United States die from a suspected opioid overdose annually - and in response to this growing number, the Red Cross created its First Aid for Opioid Overdoses training course. These trainings ensure that community members are trained to recognize the signs and symptoms of an opioid overdose, understand appropriate care to provide based on the person's breathing and level of responsiveness, and administer naloxone using several different products - a nasal atomizer, Narcan® Nasal Spray and EVZIO® - to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose," said Arianna Nassiri, from the Government Relations team in Red Cross. "AB 2150 ensures that more Californians are equipped with the life-saving knowledge from this course, which works to improve health outcomes, reduce emergency response wait times, and equip bystanders with the ability to effectively assess overdose emergencies."

The bill is in Assembly Appropriations and will be heard in committee this Thursday.

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