Thousands of people have experienced near-fatal overdoses since Scotland’s drug deaths crisis was declared a public health emergency – with new figures labelled “deeply concerning”.
Statistics released by the Scottish Ambulance Service under Freedom of Information laws show that, over the last three years, there have been more than 11,500 incidents where ambulance crews have administered naloxone, a medicine used to prevent fatal opioid overdoses.
Naloxone rapidly reverses the effects of an overdose from opioids such as heroin and has been shown to save lives.
Since 2008, there have been more than 45,000 incidents in total where paramedics administered the medicine.
Read more: 'Lives on the line': 'Sharp rise' in suspected drug deaths in Scotland
The Scottish Ambulance Service confirmed crews may administer naloxone on the same patient on multiple occasions.
There have been more than 2,500 drug-related deaths since the Scottish Government declared a public health emergency, with the country branded Europe’s drug deaths capital.
Paul O’Kane, Scottish Labour’s drugs policy spokesman, said the data released by the ambulance service indicates that figure could have been far worse had paramedics not administered naloxone.
But Mr O’Kane has warned that the huge number of overdoses shows there are still serious gaps in services.
He also claimed the figures show the urgent need for near-fatal overdose pathways to be in place in all localities to enable quick access to treatment options for people who have experienced a near-fatal overdose.
The government’s drug deaths taskforce recently raised concerns that there was a “postcode lottery” in accessing care for people who have suffered an overdose.
Read more: MSPs back £68m three year plan to tackle drug deaths
It also highlighted that health boards are not following up everyone who experiences an overdose, due to capacity and resourcing issues.
Mr O’Kane said: “The figures are deeply concerning and illustrate the huge scale of drug-related harms in Scotland.
“Everyone who has suffered an overdose should quickly be linked up with drug treatment services and other forms of support. A failure to
do so will increase the likelihood of further overdoses and loss of life.”
Last week, Drugs Policy Minister Angela Constance raised the issue of safer drug consumption facilities during a UK-wide summit.
Read more: Scotland's drug deaths broken down in charts and maps
She said: “The extent of the use of naloxone to prevent deaths in that time illustrates the size of the challenge but also the ambition of the response, including from crucial partners like the SAS or Police Scotland.
“We’re focused on supporting those affected by problem substance use, delivering real change on the ground and implementing evidence-based approaches we know can help save lives – as well as investing an additional £250 million package over the course of this parliament."
Ms Constance added: “This includes the implementation of Medication-Assisted Treatment (Mat) standards, which reinforces a rights-based approach for people who use drugs and the treatment they should expect, regardless of their circumstances or where they are.
“Mat standard 3, in particular, sets out the multi-agency response that should follow a near-fatal overdose, and which is being implemented across Scotland by April this year.”
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