Your Life Matters.
Overdose prevention
"It’s not about judgment — it’s about keeping people alive."
Preventing overdose:
- Use with a buddy! Look out for each other.
- Start low, go slow! Supply can vary. It’s safer to take a smaller dose to start with and see how you feel. Get your drugs tested if/when available.
- Mixing can increase risk of overdose. If you plan to mix, look up any interactions (or, follow the previous tips).
- Take care of yourself. Are you hydrated? Well-rested? How’re you feeling? Have you eaten? Have you taken a break recently? If you’re not feeling your usual self, or if you’ve had a break, start low, go slow, and/or use with a mate.
- Have an overdose plan. Example: if you’re using alone, text a friend to check in. Carry Naloxone or make sure your friends/whānau have a Naloxone kit and know how to use it.
How to recognise and respond to an overdose:
- Recognising/responding to overdose (credit: NZ Drug Foundation)
What is Naloxone and How Does it Work?
Naloxone (Narcan) is a drug which rapidly reverses the effects of opioid drugs including the respiratory depression that caused overdose. It should be administered whenever an opioid overdose is suspected.
Naloxone works by displacing any opioids the person has taken from the receptor sites in their brain and respiratory depression will be reversed. Therefore, after a dose of naloxone, the person should begin to breathe more normally, and it will wake them up.
Multiple doses of naloxone may be required when the overdose results from ingestion of large amounts of opioids, potent opioids (such as fentanyl or carfentanyl), or other opioid analogues.
Naloxone comes in several forms, including an injectable, intranasal, and auto-injector. In New Zealand it is currently available as an injectable solution designed to be injected into a muscle (we recommend the upper arm or thigh muscle).
Naloxone is Offered for Free at All Needle Exchanges Across Aotearoa New Zealand
Administering naloxone is not intended to replace calling an ambulance, rather it is to help keep someone alive while waiting for the ambulance to arrive.
Naloxone can help even if opioids are taken with alcohol or other substances, although it will only work to reverse the effect of the opioids.
Naloxone Videos (Credit: NZ Drug Foundation):
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