Opioid Overdose: How to Spot the Signs and Act

Background and Aims: Due to the significant rise in opioid use and fatal opioid overdoses, an opioid reversal agent naloxone has been made available to the public through standing orders at Arizona pharmacies. The aim of this project is to implement a virtual naloxone education program to increase community knowledge of opioid addiction, opioid overdose, and opioid overdose response. Design: Utilized a one group, pretest-posttest design utilizing Brief Opioid Overdose Knowledge (BOOK) screening tool. Participants recruited through Mesa Community College website as an online event open to students, staff, and public. Setting: Online WebEx event through Mesa Community College. Intervention: Presented a 45-minute educational PowerPoint on opioids, opioid overdose, and opioid overdose response with a 15-minute question answer session. Participants: A total of 67 people attended the online event, 38 participated in pre-test and 19 participated in post-test survey. Demographics included 73.7% female, 55.3% between ages 18-30, 86.7% identify as white/Caucasian, and 92% signed up with a community college email address. Findings: Statistically significant results, with alpha value of 0.05, t(13) = -3.99, p = .002, d=1.07. Conclusions: Implementing an online education session is associated with increased knowledge on opioid use, opioid overdose, and opioid overdose response. Implementing community-based education programs may increase knowledge on opioid overdose prevention and community intervention.