Naloxone
Naloxone saves lives
Naloxone is a medication that quickly and safely reverses the effects of an overdose from opioids – like heroin, morphine and methadone – as well as synthetic opioids.
You never know when you may be faced with an overdose situation so carrying naloxone and knowing how to use it could help you to save a life in an emergency.
The effects of naloxone only last for a while so you still need to call 999 once you’ve used it.
If you think someone is overdosing but you aren’t sure what they’ve taken, you can still give them naloxone. Naloxone doesn’t work on non-opioid drugs so using it won’t hurt them, and it might help.
Find out more about naloxone at Naloxone – Naloxone Saves Lives.
Synthetic opioids
Synthetic opioids (such as Fentanyl or nitazenes) are much more potent and therefore very dangerous, increasing the risk of overdose and death. Synthetics opioids are in the UK drug market often as a contaminant of heroin, however, they’ve also been found in other illicitly sourced drugs, such as oxycodone, diazepam, or Xanax.
Get a free naloxone kit and training
To get a free naloxone kit and be shown how to use it, get in touch with your local Via service today.
All of our staff and volunteers are trained to use naloxone and can teach you how to use it in around 10 minutes.
We can give kits to anyone who may be at risk of an opioid overdose and to individuals who may be in contact with those at risk.
Different types of naloxone kits
There are 3 different types of naloxone kits that we can give out:
Prenoxad – a pre-filled naloxone syringe
You inject this into their thigh or upper arm muscle, through their clothes if you need to.
Nyxoid – a naloxone nasal spray
You spray this into a person’s nostril.
Pebble – a 1.26mg naloxone nasal spray
You spray this into a person’s nostril.
Signs of overdose
- Loss of consciousness
- Unresponsive: you can’t wake the person up, and they don’t respond if you shake their shoulders or call their name
- Awake, but unable to talk
- Breathing is very slow and shallow, erratic, or has stopped
- For lighter skinned people, the skin tone turns bluish purple, for darker skinned people, it turns grayish or ashen
- Choking sounds, or a snoring like gurgling noise
- Body is very limp
- Face is very pale or clammy
- Fingernails and lips turn blue or purplish black
- Pulse (heartbeat) is slow, erratic, or not there at all
You should always call 999 if you think someone is having an overdose.
What to do if someone is having an overdose
- Keep calm and make sure you’re safe.
- Check to see if there is anything obstructing their airways.
- Place the person in the recovery position.
- Use your naloxone kit!
- If you have Prenoxad, inject it into their thigh or upper arm muscle.
- If you have Nyxoid or Pebble, place the spray in their nose and press the plunger.
- Call 999 and ask for an ambulance.
- Wait with the person until the ambulance arrives. The ambulance won’t bring the police with them except in very particular cases so don’t worry about getting into any trouble.
Naloxone should start to work within 2-5 minutes and the effects last for between 20-40 minutes. When the effects start to wear off, the person will start overdosing again so it’s still important they get medical help.
Naloxone: get it, carry it, use it.
Be a life saver!
