Be Prepared

Proactive actions

There are a number of actions you can take to help reduce overdose deaths.

Talk

Start open discussions with youth about the risks of fentanyl and create a safe space for genuine dialogue. Commit to conversation and find talk tips here.

Check

Encourage youth and community members to check in on friends. Whether that's a quick hello to check they are feeling okay or checking in on friends at parties. This all helps create a community of people looking out for others.

Act

Schedule a REVIVE! training in your local community to help make more people aware of what to do if someone overdoses. Learn more here.

Signs of an Overdose

An opioid overdose can be identified by a combination of three signs and symptoms.
Watch a video on how to check for these signs.

Falling asleep or loss of consciousness

Start by shouting the person's name and asking if they can hear you. If they don't respond, give them what's called a trap pinch by pinching the corner between their neck and shoulder as hard as you can. If the person is overdosing, they're not going to respond to the pain.

Slow, shallow breathing

Place your hand on the person's chest to feel for the rise and fall of their breath, or place your hand under their nose or over their mouth and feel for their warm breath. Opioids suppress pain signaling and can cause profound sedation. If this sedation becomes too intense, breathing can slow or stop.

Pinpoint pupils

Lift the person's eyelid and shine a flashlight (like the one on your smartphone) into their eye for 3–5 seconds. When you move the flashlight away, a person's pupil would normally get bigger. With someone with a fentanyl overdose, their pupil will remain pinpoint and tiny in the middle of their eye.

What to do in an overdose situation

Life-saving actions to take when someone overdoses on fentanyl.

Step 1

Call 9-1-1 immediately

Dial emergency services and stay on the line. An operator will talk to you and support you until medical help arrives.

Step 2

Use naloxone/Narcan nasal spray

Insert the device into one nostril, click the plunger, and repeat every two minutes. You may need to do this a number of times. Watch this video on how to administer naloxone/Narcan.

Step 3

Start rescue breathing

Tilt the person’s head back, pinch their nose, put your mouth on theirs to form a seal, and breathe. Watch this video on how to administer rescue breathing.

Step 4

Stay with them until help arrives

Stay near until professional help arrives. Thanks to the Good Samaritan law, you won’t be punished for trying to stop an overdose.

Take Virginia's REVIVE! Training

Get training on what to do in a fentanyl overdose situation.

Learn more about training

Keep naloxone on hand to reverse a fentanyl overdose