Southwest Airlines will add Narcan nasal spray and other medicines to its medical kits in the carrier’s fleet through 2024, as opioid overdoses continue across North Texas and the rest of the country.
The new kits, which Southwest began installing into its fleet in December, include an auto-injector dosage of epinephrine, ondansetron (Zofran) tablets and naloxone (Narcan) spray for opioid overdose emergencies. The kits also will have “better” equipment for first aid, a stethoscope for loud environments, an electronic blood pressure cuff, a pulse oximeter and a glucometer. Southwest will update the kits throughout the year until its full fleet has them.
Every aircraft is required to have a medical kit before departure, and all of Southwest’s current kits adhere to the Federal Aviation Administration’s requirements. Fort Worth-based American Airlines also carries Narcan on its flights.
Last summer, according to ABC Action News, a man who struggled with an opioid addiction experienced an overdose on a Southwest flight from Baltimore to Palm Beach, Fla. The flight didn’t have Narcan available, but a passenger was able to use a bag valve mask to get air into the man’s lungs until it could make an emergency landing.
There’s also a St. Louis couple pushing for airlines to be required by the federal government to have Narcan available on all flights, according to CNN. The couple used their own supply to save a passenger’s life on a flight.
In 2019, Delta Air Lines announced it would carry naloxone on board after a passenger tweeted that a man died on one of its flights.
Fentanyl is linked to more deaths of Americans under the age of 50 than any other cause. More than 1,100 North Texans have died since 2021 from the deadliest drug threat in American history.
