A 24-year-old man with unknown substance use is found unresponsive with slow respirations. What is the next step after contacting emergency services?

• A. Sit with the patient and wait for paramedics to arrive
• B. Give Narcan for suspected benzodiazepine overdose
• C. Give Narcan for suspected opiate overdose
• D. Give a stat dose of Methadone

Answer: (C)

Opioid overdose is the life-threatening situation here, because opioids depress the brain’s drive to breathe. Naloxone is an opioid receptor antagonist; it rapidly displaces opioids from those receptors and reverses the respiratory depression, often within minutes. In someone found unresponsive with slow respirations and unknown substance use, giving naloxone promptly is the most effective way to restore breathing while help is on the way. The other choices don’t fit because waiting with the patient doesn’t address the dangerous breathing problem, and naloxone would not reverse overdoses from benzodiazepines or similar sedatives (and methadone isn’t a reversal—it's an opioid itself and would not improve the situation). Keep monitoring after administration, as naloxone effects can wear off and symptoms can recur, and ensure the person is transported for continued care.