Can you stop an overdose death? Updated guidelines may help

Saving lives after an opioid overdose isn't just the job of emergency department workers, according to guidelines on how to treat heart-stopping poisonings.

Opioids are just one of the substances addressed in the updated American Heart Association guidelines. But the threat posed by overdoses from such drugs, particularly fentanyl, is immense, said Dr. Eric Lavonas, professor of emergency medicine at Denver Health and the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center.

"Opioids kill more Americans than all other poisons together by a lot," said Lavonas, who led the expert panel that wrote the updated guidelines, published Monday in the journal Circulation. "They kill more Americans than motor vehicles, and the death rate keeps climbing. It's getting insane."

The guidelines address substances that cause cardiac arrest, when the heart suddenly stops beating.

Although the update affirms much of the previous science on the topic, it's the first comprehensive review since 2010, Lavonas said. It includes recommendations for the treatment of 12 common types of poisoning, including drug overdose, chemical exposure and drug interactions. It also offers guidance on when to use the latest life-sustaining technology to help patients "whose hearts are so badly affected by a poison that they otherwise could not sustain life," he said.

That technology, called ECMO, is the most important new advance in the treatment of poisonings, Lavonas said. ECMO, which stands for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, pumps blood when the heart is unable to do so, buying time for the poison to leave the body.

Although primarily available in large medical centers, he said, it's saving lives. Earlier this summer, Lavonas helped take care of a young woman who...