International Overdose Awareness Day
International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD) takes place every year on 31 August. This year’s theme is: 25 Years On. Still Needed.
For the past 25 years, International Overdose Awareness Day has brought people together to raise awareness about overdose, recognise the impact on families and communities, and emphasise that overdose can be prevented.
At County Durham Drug and Alcohol Recovery Service, we’re recognising the campaign by encouraging more people to carry naloxone.
Get a kit. Save a life.
Naloxone is a life-saving medication that can temporarily reverse an opioid overdose by restoring normal breathing, buying valuable time for emergency services to arrive.
Anyone can be trained to use naloxone. The more people who carry it, the better chance for quicker intervention in the event of an overdose.
Why I Carry Naloxone
To mark International Overdose Awareness Day, we’ve created a short video featuring people our colleague Sean, who carries naloxone. In this video, Sean talks about why they carry naloxone, and the importance in more people doing so, especially as drugs have changed in recent years.
Check out the video below:
Free naloxone training and kits
We provide free naloxone training and kits to people across County Durham.
If you’d like to learn more about naloxone or receive training and a kit, visit one of our hubs and speak to a member of the team.
Memorial trees
Memorial trees are available in our Bishop Auckland, Durham City and Horden hubs, where people can leave a message in to recognise someone who has been lost to overdose, or who has been injured.
Overdose Awareness Resources
We’ve also developed an Overdose Awareness Pack containing information on:
- Naloxone
- Harm reduction tips
- General overdose awareness
- Nitazenes
We encourage everyone to share these resources with colleagues, the general public and anyone they might be supporting to help raise greater awareness around overdose.