One of the outcomes of the DruGS team’s Australian Research Council-funded project on overdose prevention and take-home naloxone is a collection of Overdoselifesavers.org resources. These are now being distributed for free to services and individuals. As project coordinator Dr Adrian Farrugia explained at the project report launch earlier this year, the team has produced keyrings with backing cards explaining how to respond to an opioid overdose, and USB drives containing the project’s report and recommendations for future overdose policy and practice.

The six key steps for responding to opioid overdose listed on the keyrings were developed with input from one of Australia’s key consumer representative organisations, Harm Reduction Victoria. Primarily designed to provide useful prompts in an emergency, the keyrings also serve as a handy reminder to access take-home naloxone.

As Dr Farrugia explains:

The ‘six steps to save a life’ listed on the keyring are supported by the more detailed information provided on the backing cards. Intentionally packaged together to encourage combined use, the keyrings and backing card explain the essential steps for responding to opioid overdose.

Also available are Overdoselifesavers.org posters, postcards and USB drives. The postcard and poster promote Overdoselifesavers.org – Australia’s first dedicated website presenting carefully researched personal stories of opioid overdose and the use of take-home naloxone to save lives.

These resources were designed for display and distribution to health service clients in waiting rooms or similar areas.

The USB drive contains the final report including recommendations for overdose policy and practice from our recently completed research project on take-home naloxone uptake in Australia. The drive is a handy tool for everyone, but professionals interested in the findings of our research are particularly encouraged to order it from us.

Importantly, these resources are available at no cost. If you work in an alcohol and other drug-related service, or are affected by opioid overdose, we encourage you to email Adrian to place an order (a.farrugia@latrobe.edu.au).