Opioids and Overdose
What are opioids?
Opioids are a class of drugs that include the illegal drug heroin, synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, which is 50-100 times more potent than morphine, and pain relievers that are available legally by prescription. Although opioids are available legally through prescriptions, they are still often misused and can be extremely dangerous, even causing death.
Examples of opioids include heroin, fentanyl, oxycodone (OxyContin®), hydrocodone (Vicodin®), codeine, and morphine.
Prescribed opioids pose a risk beyond the patient who receives the prescription. Among people who abuse prescription opioids, most get them
- From a friend or relative for free (55%)
- Prescribed by a physician (20%)
- Bought from a friend or relative (11%)
Among new heroin users, about three out of four report abusing prescription opioids before using heroin.
Once your body gets used to using opioids and you try to stop, you can go through a withdrawal period where your body feels terrible. Having withdrawals feels like a really bad flu. Being addicted to opioids can take control of your life and it can be very hard to stop. It’s important to know that opioid addiction can affect anyone, regardless of age, race or socioeconomic status.
What is an Opioid Overdose?
During an overdose, breathing can be dangerously slowed or stopped, causing brain damage or death. It’s important to act quickly.
Opioids act on a part of the brain that regulates breathing. So, when taken in high doses, opioids can cause someone to stop breathing or have dangerously slow breathing, causing death or brain damage.
Anyone who uses opioids can overdose. Overdose can take minutes or even hours to occur after taking opioids.
If you think someone may be overdosing, call 911. First Responders are equipped to administer naloxone (Narcan), which can reverse the symptoms of an overdose if administered in time. Anyone can get naloxone to have on hand in case of an emergency. Naloxone can be obtained by following this link and taking a brief training.
What to do if you think someone is overdosing:
It may be hard to tell if a person is high or experiencing an overdose. If you’re not sure, it’s best to treat it like an overdose–you can save a life.
- Call 911 immediately.
- Administer naloxone, if available.
- Try to keep the person awake and breathing.
- Lay the person on their side to prevent choking.
- Stay with them until emergency workers arrive.
If someone overdoses and is unconscious…Try waking them, yell their name, rub chest bone with your knuckles.
If they are not breathing or have very slow breathing:
- Start rescue breathing.
- Pinch nose, tilt head.
- 1 breath every 5 seconds
- Call 911 – say the person isn’t breathing.
- If you are alone, put the person in the Recover Position before calling 911.
- Use Narcan if you have it.
- Continue rescue breathing until help arrives. Tell paramedics what the person took, how much, and any information that could help save the victim’s life.
Signs of an Overdose
In 2018, 775 Alabamians died from an overdose. An opioid overdose results in death when opioids interrupt the body’s drive to breathe.
Signs of an overdose include:
- Small, constricted “pinpoint pupils”
- Falling asleep or loss of consciousness
- Slow, shallow breathing
- Choking or gurgling sounds
- Limp body
- Pale, blue, or cold skin
A person experiencing an overdose can experience dangerously slowed breathing or stop breathing all together. This can cause brain damage or death; therefore, it is important to understand and quickly identify the signs of an overdose.
Overdose Continuum
- Opioids sit on the brain receptors and decrease the ability to breathe.
- Overdose death can occur over time (several minutes to 3 hours)
- There is an opportunity to reverse the overdose, however, time is limited.
Do’s and Don’ts in Responding to an Opioid Overdose
- DO support the person’s breathing by administering oxygen or performing rescue breathing
- DO administer naloxone
- DO put the person in the “recovery position” on the side, if he or she is breathing independently
- DO stay with the person and keep him/her warm
- DON’T slap or try to forcefully stimulate the person – it will only cause further injury. If you are unable to wake the person by shouting, rubbing your knuckles on the sternum (center of the chest or rib cage), or light pinching, he or she may be unconscious.
- DON’T put the person into a cold bath or shower. This increases the risk of falling, drowning or going into shock.
- DON’T inject the person with any substance (salt water, milk, “speed,” heroin, etc.). The only safe and appropriate treatment is naloxone.
- DON’T try to make the person vomit drugs that he or she may have swallowed. Choking or inhaling vomit into the lungs can cause a fatal injury.