Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center (HIPRC), UW Medicine’s Addictions, Drug, & Alcohol Institute (ADAI), and Safe Kids Seattle South King, in partnership with the Injury Free Coalition for Kids, are taking part in the second annual National Injury Prevention Day on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021. Hospitals and trauma centers across the country will be bathed in green light to “shine a light” on opportunities to prevent serious childhood injury.
This year, HIPRC and ADAI are sharing a new digital toolkit on teen opioid-use prevention. The toolkit, featured below, includes videos and information for both teens and parents. Most importantly there’s a unique section dedicated to how parents can initiate a conversation with their teens around opioid use.
What causes an overdose?
When there is too much opioid in the body, a person can lose consciousness and stop breathing – this is an overdose. An opioid overdose can happen suddenly or come on slowly over a few hours. Without oxygen, a person can die. Most opioid users (64-97%) report that they have witnessed at least one overdose. And often friends and family likely have concerns for opioid use. Recognizing and responding to the early signs of overdose can save the life of someone you love.
The risk of opioid overdose increases when a person is:
Source: Apa.org (American Psychological Association) , Stopoverdose.org
Look and listen for:
Try to wake them up:
Source: Stopoverdose.org
IF THEY DON’T WAKE UP…ACT FAST!
Call 911.
Give naloxone if you have it.
Start rescue breathing.
Stay with them. Naloxone wears off in 30-90 minutes so they may stop breathing again.
Where to get Naloxone?
In WA State, you can get a prescription for naloxone if you think you could:
Go to stopoverdose.org to see if naloxone is available from a pharmacy, doctor, or health
department near you.
Naloxone is a prescription medicine that temporarily stops the effect of opioids. This helps a person start to breathe again and wake up from an opioid overdose. Naloxone (the generic name) is also sold under the brand name Narcan® .
Naloxone:
In WA State, anyone who might have or witness an opioid overdose can legally possess and administer naloxone.
Source: Stopoverdose.org
Naloxone is a prescription medicine that temporarily stops the effect of opioids. This helps most people start to breathe again and wake up from an opioid overdose. Naloxone (the generic name) is also sold under the brand name Narcan®.
Naloxone:
In WA State, anyone who might have or witness an opioid overdose can legally possess and administer naloxone.
All of the naloxone products available are similarly effective against opioid overdose. A health care provider or pharmacist can help you select which product is best for you.
Possessing, using and distributing naloxone
WA State law RCW 69.41.095 allows anyone “at risk for having or witnessing a drug overdose” to obtain an opioid overdose medication and administer it in an overdose. This includes people who use opioids, family members, friends and professionals. WA State’s 2015 “Naloxone law” RCW 69.41.095 also permits naloxone to be prescribed directly to an “entity” such as a police department, homeless shelter or social service agency for staff to administer if they witness an overdose when performing their professional duties.
RCW 69.41.095 permits non-medical persons to distribute naloxone under a prescriber’s standing order.
Immunity from liability
Several laws in WA State (commonly called “Good Samaritan” laws) give certain protections to laypersons trying to assist in a medical emergency. RCW 4.24.300 provides immunity from civil liabilities when responding in a medical emergency. RCW 69.50.315 further protects both the overdose victim and the person assisting in an overdose from prosecution for drug possession.
Statewide Standing Order
Under the WA Statewide Standing Order anyone can go to a pharmacy that carries naloxone and obtain it without a prescription from their healthcare provider. Organizations can use the standing order to purchase naloxone to have on-site or for distribution.
King County is seeing an increase in illicit drugs that contain fentanyl. Between 2018-2020, King County saw a 167 percent increase in the number of fentanyl-involved deaths. Eighteen local youth under the age of 18 died of opioid overdose in 2020.
“It’s a very real concern in King County, Washington. One person a day is dying from a fentanyl overdose (in 2021). It’s stunning, we’ve never seen anything like this before,” said HIPRC associate member Caleb Banta-Green,PhD, MPH, MSW.
Start a dialogue with your kids. Take a step back and have a more general conversation about pain, stress, medications, and basic messaging around pain & stress and how they are normal things that happen in life.
Build a list with your child on different things they can do when they feel pain or stress.
Some examples include:
Talk to your children about the consequences fentanyl-laced pills can have.
Why is fentanyl so dangerous?
Fentanyl is a very strong opioid. It’s tasteless, odorless, and an amount about the size of two grains of salt can cause overdose. It can be mixed into powders and counterfeit pills. You can’t tell if drugs contain fentanyl by look, taste, smell, or touch.
Focus the conversation on safety and drug use. Talk about how you as a parent or caregiver want them to be safe, instead of focusing on punishment for drug use.
Let them know it’s strongly advised they stop using, but if they do use it or are around people that do:
Look and listen for:
Call 911 immediately. Give Naloxone if you have it. Start rescue breathing.
Source: Laced & Lethal
Opioids bind to specific receptors in the brain that reduce the transmission of pain signals throughout the body.
Opioids include:
Source: Stopoverdose.org
Opioid Overdose Prevention Video:
Podcast: Drug Talk: Where Addiction Research Meets Human Experience
Find Drug Talk on Podbean, Apple, Spotify, or Google Podcasts
Opioid Overdose Information and Resources
National Injury Prevention Day 2021 – (PDF)
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Teen opioid-use is local focus of Injury Prevention Day – (Click to view)
King County Launches Youth Fentanyl Overdose Prevention Campaign – (Click to view)
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Teen Opioid Overdose Prevention – (PDF)
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How to talk to your child about fentanyl – (PNG) | (JPG)
Start a conversation with your child – (PNG) | (JPG)
If you know your child is using opioids – (PNG) | (JPG)
Know how to recognize an overdose – (PNG) | (JPG)
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How to… TALK TO YOUR CHILD ABOUT FENTANYL
English – (PDF)
Cómo… HABLAR CON SU HIJO SOBRE EL FENTANILO
Spanish / Español – (PDF)
Как провести… ОБСУЖДЕНИЕ ФЕНТАНИЛА С ВАШИМ РЕБЁНКОМ
Russian / Pусский – (PDF)
Làm sao để… NÓI CHUYỆN V
ỚI CON QUÝ VỊ VỀ FENTANYL
Vietnamese / Tiếng Việt – (PDF)
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Listen & share!
Drug Talk Podcast – Podbean, Apple, Spotify & Google Podcasts
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Do you know someone at risk for a drug overdose?
Naloxone Prescribing Guidelines
Recovery Means Healthy Families
So you’ve overdosed, now what?
Courtesy: King County Public Health, Stopoverdose.org, Washington State Deptartment of Social & Health Services
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
