Take home naloxone for opiate addicts

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# Drug misusers may benefit from training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation {#article-title-2} EDITOR—Dettmer et al report encouraging initial results of a scheme to give take home naloxone to opiate addicts.1 They also refer to training opiate misusers in resuscitation as part of the project. In 1997 we conducted a pilot study of cardiopulmonary resuscitation training in Glasgow, where the incidence of sudden death due to drug misuse is high. Of the nine volunteers who agreed to participate in the study (all opiate misusers), eight had witnessed a drug overdose. Six described unconsciousness and seven described cyanosis in the victims. The methods used to stimulate the victims ranged from physical stimulation (for example, slapping) (n=6) to injecting intravenous amphetamine (n=1) or using a spoon to prevent tongue swallowing (n=1). Emergency services had been called in five cases. Only one volunteer reported attempting cardiopulmonary resuscitation. All volunteers were assessed with a validated scoring system before and after a standard basic life support teaching session.2 The group's mean penalty score fell from 94 (range 25-120) to 11 (range 0-20) (P<0.001, paired t test for sample means). The two instructors who did the testing and training confirmed that in the test after the instruction all volunteers performed to the standard expected for the Resuscitation Council (UK) advanced life support course. Most drug misusers in our pilot study had witnessed an overdose, and take home naloxone or cardiopulmonary resuscitation may therefore be useful in Glasgow. We are concerned that not all the misusers called for immediate help, but other studies have suggested that this may be due to fear of the police becoming involved.3 Our pilot study showed that this vulnerable group can be trained in basic life support to an acceptable level. If enough drug misusers could be trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation this might be …