128 people die every day after overdosing on opioids in the United States. Education of the public and lay responders is a small step in mitigating the impacts of an overdose. The American Heart Association (AHA) has created a course for nonclinical staff and lay responders to educate individuals on identifying and responding to opioid overdose, ultimately saving lives and promoting public health. The course is part of the AHA’s EmPOWERED to Serve initiative aimed at addressing health disparities and promoting health equity in underserved communities.
The Opioid Education Course
The AHA course provides a basic understanding of the opioid epidemic, the symptoms of an opioid overdose, how to recognize and respond to someone who might have overdosed on opioids, and care after an overdose.
Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to:
Understand the current opioid epidemic in the United States
Identify some prescription and illegal opioids
Recognize why opioids are so addictive
Identify a possible overdose and how to respond to it
Identify the antidote for an opioid overdose
Understand what naloxone is, how it works, and how to give it to someone who has overdosed on opioids
Recognize the importance of treatment options after an opioid overdose.
Knowledge of how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, including opening the airway, administering rescue breaths, using high-quality chest compressions, and ensuring early use of an automated external defibrillator, is highly recommended before taking the online course.
The training course is available on YouTube in both English and Spanish: Opioid Education for Nonclinical Staff and Lay Responders (English) and Educación sobre opiáceos para personal no médico y rescatadores legos
What is EmPOWERED to Serve?
The American Heart Association’s EmPOWERED to Serve platform harnesses the passion of individuals and organizations to overcome barriers to health equity, create positive changes in health behaviors, and provide access to healthcare to improve cardiovascular health and overall well-being. The program emphasizes collaboration, education, advocacy, and innovative solutions to promote health equity and reduce disparities in heart disease and stroke outcomes.
EmPOWERED to Serve accelerates innovative solutions to eliminate disparities in under-resourced communities caused by social determinants of health, also called structural determinants. Social determinants may affect your health more than DNA does. Where you live, work, play, and worship – factors called social determinants of health – can affect the quality and length of your life. Social determinants of health are influenced by how money, power, and resources are distributed at local, national, and global levels. Under-resourced communities often face higher risks for heart disease, stroke, and other major health problems because of social determinants such as limited access to affordable and safe housing, healthy food, and quality health care. These factors also impact the economic stability of a community.
EmPOWERED to Serve partners with social entrepreneurs and local leaders who understand the unique challenges in their communities, working together to change societal factors. Galvanizing resources and volunteers, the initiative creates and implements sustainable solutions to:
Increase affordable housing options
Provide fair wages
Improve school systems
Develop safe streets
Provide access to healthy foods
The formation of strategic alliances with like-minded national organizations is the key to the initiative’s success. These strategic alliances with partner organizations are a far-reaching network of multicultural communities that helps more than 45 million people live longer and healthier.
Partnership Organizations are:
The partner organizations make an impact by:
Participating in AHA/ASA programs
Engaging in advocacy efforts
Driving community environment improvement
Leveraging influence
Through creative and innovative action in advocacy, policy, education, and social change models, these community Ambassadors are the heartbeat of the EmPOWERED to Serve mission.
ACLS Academy is an authorized American Heart Associate (AHA) Aligned Training Center. We have three convenient locations in Massachusetts – Quincy, Bridgewater, and Newton Center with most of our classes including an online training component. We provide high-quality courses taught by instructors practicing in the medical profession for ACLS, TNCC, BLS, ENPC, NRP, PALS, Bloodborne Pathogen, HeartSaver CPR/AED, First Aid, and Instructor Courses. Please browse our catalog of courses.