Free Overdose Response Training
Recognise, respond and reverse the effects of an overdose.
In under 30 minutes, the Proactive Overdose Response Initiative (PORI) team offers free overdose response training for community members, including residents, traders, and local services. Our training sessions are safe, easy to understand, and require no previous experience or expertise.
Our training will help you learn to recognise and effectively respond to overdoses using naloxone.
Doing our training doesn’t mean you will be obliged to respond to an overdose emergency. Instead, we provide you with the basic tools to empower you to recognise a heroin/opioid overdose if you ever come across one in the community and want to help. With the support of emergency services (triple zero), our training could help you save a life!
The use of naloxone as a first aid response to overdose is endorsed and supported by:
- Ambulance Victoria
- Victoria Police
- The Australian Medical Association
- The Victorian Government
- The Australian Government.
To learn more about our training or to speak with a member of the PORI team please email us at naloxone@nrch.com.au or call 9418 9811.
What is naloxone?
Naloxone:
- is a safe and effective medication that can reverse the effects of opioid overdose
- blocks the opioids for 30 to 90 minutes to reverse the breathing problems that can lead to death from an overdose
- is most often injected into a person experiencing an overdose. It attaches to the same part of the brain that receives heroin and other opioids
- only reverses the effects of opioids such as heroin, methadone, morphine, opium, codeine or hydrocodone
- does not reverse the effects of other types of drugs such as:
- antihistamines
- alcohol
- benzodiazepines i.e. diazepam,
midazolam or alprazolam - other sedatives or stimulants,
such as cocaine and
amphetamines.
Is naloxone legal to carry?
Yes, it is legal for a person to carry naloxone that is prescribed or dispensed to them. It is legal for a non-medical person to administer naloxone to someone else to treat a potentially fatal overdose.
Where can I access naloxone?
Naloxone is available at all participating pharmacies across Australia.
A list of pharmacies and other sites participating in the national Take Home Naloxone program can be found on the Pharmacy Programs Administrator Website.
Ask us about our Overdose Response Training
This training focuses on how to recognise the signs of opioid overdose and how to respond using naloxone.