Can You Use Narcan if the Heart is Not Stopped?

When to Use Naloxone for Reviving Someone of an Opioid Overdose

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You love someone who struggles with an opioid use disorder or prescription drug misuse. This often means that you should be prepared in the event of an accidental opioid overdose.

Can you use Narcan if the heart is not stopped?

Let’s be clear here: Narcan will not be useful to you if the heart has already stopped. You should administer naloxone as soon as you notice the signs of opioid overdose, practice rescue breathing to keep the heart moving and dial 911 for help. The naloxone kit lasts for a maximum of 90 minutes when symptoms can relapse.

Purpose Healing Center can help with substance abuse before a person overdoses and needs naloxone, as well as with detox and recovery support following an overdose. From medical detox for withdrawal symptoms to long-term recovery, we help with it all.

Here is what you should know about Narcan and cardiac arrest.

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What Exactly is Naloxone (Narcan)?

If you have a loved one who struggles with substance use, having rescue drugs on hand should be a top priority for your family members. Naloxone is the most effective drug to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose quickly, improving outcomes for patients.

How does it work?

Narcan attaches itself to opioid receptors and blocks the impact of other drugs that your loved one may have taken. An opioid overdose often results in respiratory depression (slowed breathing). In turn, this can lead to cardiac arrest, where the heart may even stop. If you administer Narcan, breathing has the chance to return to normal.

However, keep in mind that the effects of naloxone are only temporary. You will still need to seek out medical attention for your loved one. It’s not a cure-all for opioid use disorder, but it is an emergency measure you should have on hand.

How Naloxone Administration Works During Cardiac Arrest

Before diving too far into the science of Narcan use, it’s important to understand what the body goes through during an opioid overdose. Oftentimes, the fatal results of drug overdose don’t happen due to a faulty heart. Instead, the heart suddenly stops beating due to a lapse in breathing.

When this occurs, the body will quickly shut down and stop pumping blood. In many cases, this means that your first order of business might be to practice CPR on cardiac arrest patients. The body can only survive four to six minutes without oxygen.

But the big question is: Can Naloxone administration work if the heart isn’t stopped yet?

When to Administer Naloxone and How to Avoid Overdose Death

Unfortunately, Narcan doesn’t affect the body if the heart stops. The ideal situation for either intranasal or injectable naloxone is when the heart is still beating. According to the American Heart Association, it won’t do any good once cardiac movement ceases to exist.

The best thing you can do is move as soon as possible to restore normal breathing quickly. Administer the Narcan, perform CPR, and dial 911 all at the same time when possible.

Naloxone improves respiratory depression and can increase awareness and activity in someone who has recently overdosed. This can often improve outcomes until emergency medical dispatches can get to the overdosed individual and administer more life-saving interventions.

If you or a loved one struggles with opioid use disorder, it’s imperative to have Narcan on hand. You can learn more about administering it via the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Train yourself on how to use and administer long before necessary. You might just save a life.

Signs of an Opioid Overdose

Sometimes, the symptoms and signs of an opioid overdose closely mirror those of cardiac arrest patients. If you aren’t sure whether someone has overdosed on opioids, you could administer the Narcan either way. While it may not help in cardiac arrest, it could save a life if opioid receptors are overwhelmed.

If you suspect drug abuse, here are the symptoms you should be aware of to give the nasal spray or IM injection:

Blue or purple fingernails or lips

Small pupils (sometimes referred to as “pinpoint pupils”)

Slow, irregular breathing or no breathing at all

Low blood pressure or slowed heart rate

Pale and clammy

If someone is experiencing any of the symptoms above and is also unresponsive, Narcan is the most reasonable treatment modality. Once you administer it, practice rescue breathing to reinvigorate your loved one.

It can be tempting to deliver Narcan to someone with a heart issue, hoping that it will revive them. The unfortunate news is that it will not have any effect on heart issues if there aren’t opioids in their system due to the way it counteracts the drug’s effects on the opioid receptors.

Let first responders know if there’s a history of substance misuse, addiction, or any reason to suspect an overdose so that they can make educated decisions on the next treatments.

How Long Does Naloxone Work?

Sometimes, a loved one will worry about calling for help if they fear punishment for the use of illegal drugs in their possession. The Good Samaritan Law protects them in such cases. They might try to administer naloxone right away and remain satisfied that the drug worked in the short term. But what happens when naloxone wears off?

Your naloxone kit is good for roughly thirty to ninety minutes. That can seem like a long time, but it’s actually very short in the grand scheme. It can take that long for an ambulance to reach you and then transport them to a hospital where they must be assessed by a doctor.

If the Narcan wears off and there is no more to administer, you can have a relapse of symptoms. The drugs that someone has taken often have a half-life longer than the effective window of Narcan. If no further treatment is issued, death can still occur.

Why Call 911 for Further Investigation

This is why you should always call 911 whenever you give Narcan to someone, no matter how responsive they might seem right away. Naloxone’s immediate effect may give false hope that everything will be fine.

However, first responders may need to administer a second dose or use other life-saving measures like defibrillation. They can also take over chest compressions, which can become tiresome if you do it all alone. If first responders know that your loved one received naloxone, it can prompt them to do the next thing that makes sense to get them responsive.

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Getting Long-Term Help for Opioids at Purpose Healing Center

After a hospital discharge, it’s time to turn your attention to the long-term measures necessary to put drug use behind you for good. It can be helpful to have information for a loved one so that you can have a potential intervention leading up to their return home. Purpose Healing Center can help.

Purpose offer medical detoxes where we can taper your prescription drug use to make you more comfortable and minimize withdrawal symptoms. From here, you can transition to our residential treatment program or an intensive outpatient program to practice newfound skills.

All it takes is a quick and confidential phone call to our enrollment team, where we can tell you about our accredited program and verify benefits with your insurance company. Reach out today to learn more and to enroll in our program!