Ep88 - Naloxone in Cardiac Arrest?

The EMS Lighthouse Project

Do you give naloxone to patients who are in cardiac arrest? Should you? Can it possibly provide any benefit at all once you are already providing effective ventilations? Well, Dr. Jarvis certainly thought not. He might have even thought it out loud. Like, loudly out loud.

Based on two recent papers looking directly at this question, perhaps he needs to eat some crow and shine the bright light of science on his own damn practice.

Citations:

1. Strong NH, Daya MR, Neth MR, Noble M, Sahni R, Jui J, Lupton JR: The association of early naloxone use with outcomes in non-shockable out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Resuscitation. 2024;August;201:110263.

2. Dillon DG, Montoy JCC, Nishijima DK, Niederberger S, Menegazzi JJ, Lacocque J, Rodriguez RM, Wang RC: Naloxone and Patient Outcomes in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrests in California. JAMA Netw Open. 2024;August 1;7(8):e2429154.

3. Niederberger SM, Crowe RP, Salcido DD, Menegazzi JJ: Sodium bicarbonate administration is associated with improved survival in asystolic and PEA Out-of-Hospital cardiac arrest. Resuscitation. doi: 10.1016/j.resuscitation.2022.11.007 (Epub ahead of print).

4. Wampler DA: Naloxone in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest—More Than