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Many opportunities for future research exist. Follow-up survey work with police to determine the degree and nature of the impact of the overdose training would be valuable. More substantial law enforcement training could be designed and evaluated. The impact of Good Samaritan laws on actual number and rates of 911 calls and related health outcomes is worth evaluating. However, we have found that in a time of dramatic drug policy changes as well as dramatic changes in heroin and pharmaceutical opioid use, separating out the impacts of a law may be difficult. As Good Samaritan and naloxone laws are increasingly passed by state legislators, some manner of mandating community education and program evaluation within existing agencies and funding streams would be valuable.

Conclusion

This study demonstrates that merely passing Good Samaritan laws encouraging help-seeking and lifesaving intervention during an overdose is perhaps necessary, but is decidedly insufficient. Funding for implementation has not been included in any states’ similar laws. National media have begun reporting on Good Samaritan laws and noted problems with implementation, including improper arrests of victims and help-seekers otherwise immune under the new provisions.31,32 We found that vocal support from state and local officials, open conversation, local data, and a common interest in healthy communities may help facilitate implementation. Public safety and public health need not be antagonistic, but rather can potentiate each other to manage this and other disease epidemics.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all of the police officers and paramedics who completed the surveys. We would also like to thank Dr. Michael Copass of the Seattle Fire Department Medic One program. Thanks also to Assistant Chief Mike Sanford and Captain Lester Liggins as well as the training department of the Seattle Police Department.

1. Paulozzi L, Baldwin G, Franklin G, et al. CDC grand rounds: prescription drug overdoses—a U.S. epidemic. Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2012;61(1):10–13. [PubMed]

2. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Results from the 2011 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National Findings, NSDUH Series H-44, HHS Publication No. (SMA) 12–4713. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. 2012.

3. Sporer KA. Strategies for preventing heroin overdose. BMJ. 2003;326(7386):442–444. doi: 10.1136/bmj.326.7386.442. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Cross Ref]

4. Lagu T, Anderson BJ, Stein M. Overdoses among friends: drug users are willing to administer naloxone to others. J Subst Abuse Treat. 2006;30:129–133. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2005.05.010. [PubMed] [Cross Ref]

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