Overdose Prevention for Prisoners in New York: A Novel Program & Collaboration

This is a brief report on the establishment of a new program in New York State prisons to prepare prisoners to avoid the increased risks of drug overdose death associated with the transition to the community by training them in overdose prevention and making available naloxone, a medication that quickly reverses the effects of an opioid overdose, to all prisoners as they re-enter the community. It is a milestone collaboration in the USA between public health, the correctional system, and a community-based harm reduction program in response to the growth of heroin and opioid analgesic use and related morbidity and mortality, working together to get naloxone into the hands of the people at high risk of overdosing and/or of witnessing an opioid overdose.

...In February 2015, the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute (DOHAI), New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS), and the Harm Reduction Coalition (HRC) launched a novel opioid overdose prevention and training program, preparing inmates for reentry into the community. This program will target soon to be released inmates in all 54 state correctional facilities and educate them about the risks of opioid use, especially after periods of confinement, and train them in the use of naloxone. Naloxone, intended for intranasal use, will be offered to trained inmates free of charge at release [4].

A pilot at a minimum-security correctional facility in New York City was initiated in February 2015. Harm Reduction Coalition staff trained inmates in the use of naloxone, as well as prison staff who can now provide the trainings. As of September 2015, more than 700 inmates have been trained at Queensboro Correctional Facility; about 200 have received kits. The numbers of inmates taking kits at release has increased each month, suggesting growing acceptance of the program. Training has been initiated in two other correctional facilities and several others have scheduled staff trainings. In addition, a community-based organization in the region is training family members and friends of incarcerated individuals and equipping them with naloxone free of charge.

DOCCS has also established a statewide standing order, in conjunction with the Department of Health, which enables DOCCS nursing staff to administer naloxone by injection to any inmate, staff or visitor suspected of an overdose without first obtaining a physician order. Previously, DOCCS staff had to seek individual doctor orders when an overdose was suspected.

Full article at: http://goo.gl/IsgRpg

By: Howard Zucker¹, Anthony J. Annucci², Sharon Stancliff³ and Holly Catania^4*

¹New York State Department of Health, Corning Tower, Empire State Plaza, Albany 12237, NY, USA

²New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, The Harriman State Campus, Bldg. 2, 1220 Washington Avenue, Albany 12226-2050, NY, USA

³Harm Reduction Coalition, 22 W 27th St Fl 5, New York 10001, NY, USA

⁴New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute, 90 Church Street, 13th floor, New York 10007, NY, USA

  

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