Introduction: Knowing About Naloxone Matters — This Guide Can Help
Naloxone is a medicine that can save lives when someone is experiencing an overdose — if someone is nearby and has it on hand. Anyone, including teens, can carry naloxone and administer it to someone experiencing an overdose.
This guide is intended to help people host a naloxone demonstration. A naloxone demonstration can work well as part of a hosted National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week® (NDAFW) event, as an overdose awareness educational opportunity, or as a supplement to an established curriculum.
Knowledge Check: Overdoses and Opioid Overdose Reversal Medications 101
Naloxone and nalmefene are two FDA-approved medicines that rapidly reverse an overdose from opioids. This is especially important because the potent, synthetic opioid fentanyl is often found in illicit drugs, including cocaine, methamphetamines, and pills that are made to resemble prescription medications.
Knowing how to recognize and respond to an overdose, including the use of naloxone or nalmefene when available, has the potential to save a life. Both medications are available in a nasal spray version, but nalmefene requires a prescription, whereas naloxone is more widely available over the counter without a prescription.
- Use the supplementary PowerPoint presentation as a standalone educational tool or as an introduction to a naloxone demonstration activity.
- Review information about opioid overdose reversal medications for additional background on these potentially lifesaving medications.
- Overdose Reversal Medications (National Institute on Drug Abuse)
- Lifesaving Naloxone (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention page)
- Naloxone (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration page)
Staging an Event to Demonstrate How to Use Naloxone
A naloxone demonstration event can be tailored to fit the needs of your audience and community. While specialized training is not required to obtain or use naloxone, learning more about this potentially lifesaving medicine and how to use it can help improve readiness and confidence in responding to someone who may be experiencing an overdose.
Virtual On-Demand Learning Options
If in-person trainings are difficult to organize, use or adapt these videos, online guides, and modules.
- How to Use Naloxone Nasal Spray video from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Opioid Overdose Prevention and Response toolkit from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
- Bystander demonstration training modules from GetNaloxoneNow
- Opioid Overdose Basics training guide from the National Harm Reduction Coalition
- Opioid Education for Nonclinical Staff and Lay Responders video from the American Heart Association
- Naloxone Education for School Nurses toolkit from the National Association of School Nurses (free, but does require an account creation/login)
Interactive Learning Options
If you prefer to organize an in-person event, you can use the above materials and/or reach out to your local or state public health departments,* health professionals, local clinics, or other state agencies working in substance use prevention to determine if they can offer in-person or virtual training opportunities that can be incorporated at your event.
*Please note, not all state or local health departments will have this type of hands-on training available.
What to Expect From a Naloxone Training
The overall format and delivery of an interactive naloxone training may vary, but in a typical demonstration, you may see the following content covered as part of the training:
- How to recognize signs and symptoms of an overdose
- Response protocols when an overdose is suspected
- How to administer naloxone, possibly demonstrated on a mannequin
- The importance of contacting emergency medical services
- Support finding treatment services
- Drug use prevention
- Other topics that are relevant to your community (e.g., current data/trends, local laws)
Exercise: Sample Discussion Questions
After the demonstration, video screening, or lesson, these discussion questions can help facilitate a reflective conversation:
- What surprised you most about this activity? What is something that you know now that you didn’t know before about drug overdoses and/or naloxone?
- How ready do you feel to respond to someone experiencing an overdose?
- Follow-up: If someone does not feel prepared to respond, consider re-reviewing the overdose response process, spending additional time on any areas of concern or confusion.
- What would make you feel empowered to intervene if someone is possibly experiencing an opioid overdose?
- When might it make sense for you to carry naloxone?
- Who is one person in your life you would want to share this information with?