Wellness & Well-being Highlights September 30

Wellness & Well-being Highlights

for the

Week of September 30, 2024

This week’s edition of our Worker Wellness & Well-being blog looks at the complexities of PDMPs (prescription drug monitoring programs)—to how one of the best basketball players of all time is on a mission to ensure children can read at grade-level—to advice on retiring abroad vs in a domestic rural setting. This week I would like to take this opportunity to take a closer look at how Narcan is at last becoming a staple in more and more workplaces.

If you have followed this blog—off and on—for the past few years, it should be no surprise that I became excited to see a big player like Amazon make the commitment to stock its warehouses with Narcan. In the interest of remaining positive, their action will hopefully move other mega-companies to do the right thing. Why? Because the CDC reported in 2022, that nearly 2/3s of the workforce (over 18 yo) experienced a SUD (substance use disorder). Hence, I go back to the old saw that “employees are a firm’s most important asset.” If this is so…then why is it taking so long to ensure the safety of our workers, customers, etc. in this country?

The article linked below goes on to say that much of the resistance is related to stigma. I could not agree more! Back around 2017, when a colleague of mine and I approached various players in the construction industry, we were typically told one of two things: a) our industry does not have an opioids “problem” or b) our legal department recommends that we not conform to our ask in the so-called interest of liability. Meanwhile, construction workers across this nation were dying from drug overdoses in restrooms on job sites.

Most of you have already heard my SWA story from nearly 2 years ago. I, for one, was blessed to be in the right place, at the right time, with the right set of skills and save a stranger…someone’s son and possibly a brother, husband, and/or father. Honestly, it takes less than 15 minutes to learn how to administer Narcan. For those of you on the more cautious side, I recommend scouring the ANSW (Alliance for Naloxone Safety in the Workplace) website linked below for more info on training, Good Sam laws, corporate policy, etc. As I mentioned to a group of construction leaders a few nights ago, this truly is a matter of We vs Me. I, alone, cannot put a dent in this DEADLY epidemic…but WE can!!! In closing, the longer WE allow vital public health issues like this to remain in silence, the more WE promote the stigma surrounding these tough topics plaguing our society. Please join me in saving lives by getting trained and helping our neighbors in need!

Sources: https://www.wsj.com/business/amazon-to-stock-opioid-overdose-reversal-drug-narcan-at-its-warehouses-2ea8d831?st=TFYyxA&reflink=article_gmail_share

www.ANSW.org

Trans-teens / Anti-trans States / Suicide Attempts

Amazon & Narcan

Methadone: New Rules

Do PDMPs work?