​​​In 2019, reported deaths from drug overdose in the USA reached an all-time high of almost 72 000, with opioids involved in more than two-thirds of the total deaths. As of July, 2020, deaths from drug overdose in the USA rose by an estimated 13% in the first half of the year compared with 2019.

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Recognizing Opioid Overdose

When people survive, it’s because someone was there to respond.

Sometimes it can be difficult to tell if a person is just very high, or experiencing an overdose. The following will present some information on how to tell the difference. If you’re having a hard time telling the difference, it is best to treat the situation like an overdose – it could save someone’s life.

The following are symptoms of an overdose:

•  Awake, but unable to talk
• Body is very limp
• Face is pale or clammy
• Fingernails and lips turn blue or purplish black
• For lighter skinned people, skin tone turns bluish purple, for darker skinned people, it turns grayish or ashen
• Breathing is very slow and shallow, erratic, or has stopped
• Pulse (heartbeat) is slow, erratic, or not there at all
• Choking sounds, or a snore-like gurgling noise (sometimes called the “death rattle”) Vomiting
• Loss of consciousness
• Unresponsive to outside stimulus

​Naloxone (Narcan) Saves Lives

What it is

Naloxone is a medication designed to rapidly reverse opioid overdose. It is an opioid antagonist—meaning that it binds to opioid receptors and can reverse and block the effects of other opioids. It can very quickly restore normal respiration to a person whose breathing has slowed or stopped as a result of overdosing with heroin or prescription opioid pain medications.

When someone is really high

• Pupils will contract and appear small
• Muscles are slack and droopy
• They might “nod out”
• Scratch a lot due to itchy skin
• Speech may be slurred

They might be out of it, but they will respond to outside stimulus like loud noise or a light shake from a concerned friend.
If you are worried that someone is getting too high, it is important that you don’t leave them alone. If the person is still conscious, walk them around, keep them awake, and monitor their breathing.

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How It Works

See how Narcan Works:
youtu.be/zWe_lPniEq4