Heroin, Fentanyl, Opioid Overdose
This session is designed to help Prehospital Care Practitioners, Emergency Nurses & Physicians, and Respiratory, X-ray, and Lab Technicians better understand and manage patients who have fallen victim to Heroin use. The impact of Heroin use is felt across the United States, with Heroin being identified as one of the most important drug abuse issues affecting communities coast to coast. It is estimated that 50 million people Worldwide are users of Cocaine, Heroin, and synthetic drugs. Included in those numbers are 700,000 Americans who use Heroin as a recreational drug to seek euphoria or a pleasurable sensation known on the street as a “Rush”.
Heroin, under the chemical name (diamorphine, diacetylmorphine, or morphine diacetate), is illegal to manufacture, possess, or sell, which makes it also illegal to use. Heroin on the street is known to many as H, smack, boy, horse, brown, black, and tar. Afghanistan’s Multibillion Dollar Heroin business supplies 87% of the Heroin in the World, while production in Mexico has risen six times since 2007, which makes it the second-largest opium producer.
Objectives:
- Understand and manage patients with heroin use.
- Discuss the chemical names of heroin.
- Discuss the street names of heroin.