A problem here "narcan itself doesn't hurt."Exactly. Easy to jump to conclusions though when someone has the appearance of a potential addict... Could possibly be anaphylactic shock or hypoglycemia. I've had to intervene when a medic was trying to give narcan to a guy having an allergic reaction that was swelling his tongue. Narcan itself wouldn't hurt, but not treating the actual issue could kill the patient.
No medication is 100% benign and "doesnt hurt." ALL meds have a potential to cause harm.
In fact there's a reason we're pushing to get ems providers to stop just slamming narcan.
Give it when it's needed, but not just because.
A local ED also asked my agency to stop slamming these people with narcan... apparently theyve had a rise in OD calls that develop Flash Pulmonary Edema 2ndary to rapid narcan "slams"