OVERDOSE
FACTS AND MYTHS
EVERYTHING YOU
NEED TO KNOW
Fact:
Most overdose’s
happen when opiates are used with alcohol and benzos. Opiates, alcohol and
benzos all slow the body down. Combining these drugs increases the risk of
overdosing, (don’t use pills or alcohol before your
shot).
Fact:
80% of people
who die from overdose are experienced and regular users. Listen to your body, if
you are run down or have had little sleep you may be at risk of overdose from a
shot you can normally handle.
Fact:
In most OD’s
death takes up to one hour. If an ambulance is called a person who has dropped
has a good chance of survival. Paramedics are only interested in saving peoples
lives and wont call police. However, never admit an OD has happened when on the
phone to emergency services, police monitor incoming calls and if they know an
OD has occurred they may well turn up. Simply state that the person has
collapsed and has stopped breathing.
Know the
gear:
While it is
possible to obtain a degree of certainty of strength with mistys, the quality of
home bake can vary greatly from one day to another. Overdoses are more common
when Home Bake is used. Be careful, take less if you are unsure. You can always
top up if the result is unsatisfactory. Don’t be greedy, better to take a little
extra time than end up in the morgue.
Don’t use
alone:
If you drop
when you are with other people they can get you help.
OD Myth
#1:
If someone
drops it is better to leave them to “SLEEP IT OFF”.
Wrong:
Leaving someone
on their own could result in death. It can only take a few minutes for someone
to stop breathing and die. Even if the person is still breathing they need
someone to make sure they don’t stop breathing. They may also roll on to their
back and choke if they vomit. Someone needs to make sure that they lie on their
side, (the recovery position), to keep the airways open until help arrives. If
they stop breathing and/or don’t have a pulse, call an
ambulance.
Myth
#2:
Hitting someone
up with water or salty water will bring them around if they have
dropped.
Wrong:
It only wastes
time that could be spent putting them in the recovery position and calling for
an Ambulance.
This idea may
have come from people seeing doctors administer a Saline drip (salt water), this
is to keep the veins open so medication can be
administered.
The salt does not
affect the overdose at all.
Myth
#3:
If someone
drops you should put them in a cold bath or shower.
Wrong:
Water is one of
the quickest ways to lower a person’s body temp. If you put someone in a shower
or bath you could send them into shock by changing their body temp too quickly.
They could also drown accidentally. All this action will achieve is a waste of
what little time you have to get the person proper medical treatment
.
Myth
#4:
If someone who
drops doesn’t respond, walking them around will bring them
back.
If someone
hasn’t responded to your attempts to bring them around forcing them to walk will
again only waste what little time you have to get them proper medical
treatment.
Wrong:
The effects of
Narcan are only temporary. After half an hour Narcan will begin to wear off very
fast and having another shot could make you drop again. In fact even if you
don’t have another shot you are still at risk of dropping again. Opiates are
longer acting than Narcan. If you end up in hospital don’t check out immediately
stay and allow the health professionals to do their job, keep you alive. It is
important to realise also that Narcan only works on opiates, not benzos or
alcohol. If you have taken a drug cocktail you will still be out of it on the
other stuff and need to be looked after.
Myth
#6:
It is only new
users who OD.
Wrong:
Research shows
that a first OD usually happens after a person has been using for around two
years.
Myth
#7:
Suicide is the
most common reason people OD.
Wrong:
Research on
this issue shows that most OD’s are accidental.
Myth
#8:
It’s
contaminants in the dope that cause OD’s.
Wrong:
Research shows
that contaminants are rarely, if ever found in samples of street
drugs.
