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Dealing with an overdose
| Last updated: 25.06.04 |
Reducing the risk of overdosing
The risk of overdosing can be reduced by:
If you find someone who has overdosed
There are various incorrect bits of `folk–wisdom' such as injecting the person with salt water or burning people with cigarettes. These don't work, they waste time and they may cause further damage.
Many users are anxious about calling an ambulance as it is feared the police will automatically be called when an overdose is reported. This is not the case, and it may be important to clarify this.
The risk of overdosing can be reduced by:
- Being sure about exactly what drug you are injecting
- Being sure about the strength of your drug supply
- Not returning to the same dose of a drug after a break, because your tolerance to that dose will have been reduced
- Never fixing alone, or in a place where you can't be found
- Fixing any new supply in two separate hits
- Knowing what to do if someone overdoses.
If you find someone who has overdosed
There are various incorrect bits of `folk–wisdom' such as injecting the person with salt water or burning people with cigarettes. These don't work, they waste time and they may cause further damage.
- Lie the person in the recovery position – on their side so that they do not inhale their vomit or suffocate
- Then call an ambulance.
Many users are anxious about calling an ambulance as it is feared the police will automatically be called when an overdose is reported. This is not the case, and it may be important to clarify this.