Welcome to Partnership to End Addiction’s SPIKE Alert Program. We are so grateful for your help in addressing overdoses in your community. As you know, overdoses, whether from opioids or stimulants, continue to ravage our country. With your support, we can turn the tide.

Opioid-specific safety measures you can take

Here are some actions to take if heroin, fentanyl, pain medications or other opioids are involved:

• Encourage community members to recognize signs of an overdose, carry naloxone (Narcan) and know how to use it.
•  Suggest the use of fentanyl test strips that detect fentanyl in heroin and other opioids such as Oxycontin or Percocet as well as Xanax.
• Educate community members on Medications for Opioid Use Disorder including methadone, buprenorphine (e.g., Suboxone, Zubsolv) and naltrexone (e.g., Vivitrol).

General safety measures

Regardless of the substances a person is using, here are some additional actions to consider:

• Share the Good Samaritan Laws applicable in your state
• Educate community members on harm reduction measures including:
  • Use extra caution if using alone – let a friend know to check on you via text or another method
  • If in a group, stagger use
  • Try snorting or smoking rather than injecting
  •  If injecting, use clean, sterile syringes and don’t share them with others
  • Use test amounts – go low and slow
  • Don’t mix drugs, including alcohol
  • Connect peer recovery coaches in your community, if available, with people at risk of an overdose
  • Offer community resources that can help with stable housing, food stamps, insurance sign-up, medical services and transportation. With these basics in place, many people will consider treatment.

Seeking personal help?

Partnership to End Addiction is primarily focused on families of those struggling with substance use. Please contact the government’s SAMHSA Helpline for personal support.