Naloxone Successful in Over Half of Uses in Reversing Signs of Opioid Overdose in the Prehospital Setting

Study of naloxone use documented by emergency responders found most involved teenagers, more often boys

ORLANDO, Fla.—The opioid epidemic is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States, and it is increasingly impacting children and teenagers. Naloxone can reverse the effects of opioid overdose and is being used in hospitals and by emergency responders outside the hospital to save the lives of young people poisoned by opioids.

Research titled, “Naloxone Administration to Pediatric Patients During Emergency Medical Service Events,” finds that among pediatric emergency medical service responses where naloxone was administered, the first dose was successful in improving clinical status in 54.1% of cases. Approximately one-third (32.7%) of pediatric patients received two or more naloxone doses, according to an abstract presented during the American Academy of Pediatrics 2024 National Conference & Exhibition at the Orange County Convention Center from Sept. 27-Oct. 1.

“Emergency medical services clinicians rarely reported that naloxone worsened clinical status, and naloxone improved a patient's clinical condition in over half of emergency responses in our study,” said lead study author Christopher Gaw, MD, MPH, MBE, FAAP, emergency medicine physician at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. “This finding underscores how naloxone can be a safe and effective antidote when used for suspected opioid poisonings in children and adolescents.”

Researchers examined data from the National Emergency Medicine Service Information System (NEMSIS) on emergency medical service activations for pediatric patients ages 17 and younger in 2022, and found naloxone was administered to teenagers and children at least 6,215 times that year. The study also found that one in five adolescents 13-17 years old were documented as receiving naloxone prior to emergency medical service arrival (20.7%), meaning that somebody on the scene administered naloxone. Naloxone administrations occurred most often in the home or residential setting (61.4%). The research also found that most overdoses occur in adolescents, ages 13-17 (79.4%), followed by children ages 1-5 (10.2%), and boys were also slightly more likely to receive naloxone (55.3%).

The calls for assistance suggest there may be initial confusion in the early emergency medical service response period before a diagnosis is made. In the study, the initial emergency call was for an overdose, poisoning, or ingestion in about a third of the calls for adolescents 13-17 (31.5%) and just 12.8% of calls for infants.

“Our study highlights how EMS clinicians are reporting naloxone use after responding to different types of emergency dispatch calls, such as poisonings, unconsciousness, and problems breathing,” Dr. Gaw said. “These signs and symptoms could represent a possible opioid poisoning, which may explain why naloxone was administered in those situations.”

Dr. Gaw is scheduled to present his research, which is below, from 4:15-5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, at the Section of Emergency Medicine program during the national conference. To request an interview with the authors, contact MediaRelations@nationwidechildrens.org, 614-355-0495.

In addition, Dr. Gaw will be among highlighted abstract authors who will give brief presentations and be available for interviews during a press conference from noon-1:30 pm Saturday in the National Conference Press Room, W208 AB. During the meeting, you may reach AAP media relations staff at 407-685-5401. 

Please note: only the abstract is being presented at the meeting. In some cases, the researcher may have more data available to share with media, or may be preparing a longer article for submission to a journal.  

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The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults. For more information, visit www.aap.org. Reporters can access the meeting program and other relevant meeting information through the AAP meeting website at http://www.aapexperience.org/

Abstract

Program Name: 2024 AAP National Conference-Abstracts

Submission Type: Section on Emergency Medicine

Abstract Title: Naloxone Administration to Pediatric Patients During Emergency Medical Service Events

Christopher Gaw
Columbus, OH, United States

The opioid epidemic is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. In recent years, opioids have been implicated in rising injury and fatality rates among children. Early recognition and reversal of opioid poisoning can be lifesaving, and emergency medical services (EMS) clinicians are often the first healthcare providers to respond to an overdose event. Few studies have characterized the pre-hospital response to pediatric opioid poisonings. The objective of this study is to describe the patient and EMS response characteristics for children and adolescents receiving naloxone in the prehospital setting.

We acquired data from the National Emergency Medicine Service Information System (NEMSIS) on EMS activations for pediatric patients 1 day to 17 years old in 2022. Among these activations, we identified children who received ≥ 1 dose of naloxone. We analyzed patient demographics and EMS response characteristics using descriptive statistics and characterized the incidence rate of pediatric EMS activations where naloxone was administered.

In 2022, 6,215 EMS activations met our inclusion criteria. Activations more commonly involved males (55.3%) and were dispatched to a home or residential setting (61.4%) (Table 1). Most responses involved adolescents 13-17 years old (79.4%), followed by children 1-5 years (10.2%) and infants < 1 year (6.0%). The incidence of naloxone administration per 10,000 activations was highest in the 13–17-year age group (57.5), followed by the < 1 year (17.9) and 1–5-year (11.1) age groups. One in five adolescents 13-17 years old were documented as receiving naloxone prior to EMS arrival (20.7%, 974/4,702) compared to fewer than one in ten infants < 1 year (8.2%, 28/341). Most EMS activations involving naloxone administration involved an advanced life support unit (91.0%) (Table 2). An initial dispatch complaint of an overdose, poisoning, or ingestion was more common among responses to adolescents 13-17 years old (31.5%, 1,555/4,937) compared to infants < 1 year (12.8%, 48/375). Approximately one third (32.7%) of pediatric patients received 2 or more naloxone doses. The first dose of naloxone led to a clinical improvement in a greater proportion of 1-5 years old (64.7%, 388/600) compared to infants < 1 year (51.3%, 184/359) and adolescents 13-17 years (54.0%, 2,474/4,580). Naloxone administration was followed by a worsening in clinical status in 11 individuals in our study population (0.2%).

Infants and young children administered naloxone received different EMS care compared to adolescents. EMS dispatches to infants receiving naloxone were uncommonly identified as poisonings or ingestions, and few infants received naloxone prior to EMS arrival. Notably, naloxone administration was rarely documented to worsen clinical status in pediatric patients. These findings highlight opportunities to improve community and prehospital provider identification and management of suspected pediatric opioid poisonings.

Table 1. Characteristics of pediatric patients receiving naloxone from emergency medical services, NEMSIS 2022

Table 2. Emergency medical service response characteristics of pediatric patients receiving naloxone by age, NEMSIS 2022