Opioids and Other Prescription Drugs

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Hello, in this video we will take you through some crucial information that can help save lives. First, we will address the opioid crisis — understanding what opioids are and why they pose such a significant threat to our communities. Next, you will learn how to recognize the signs of an opioid overdose — an essential skill for anyone who wants to be prepared in an emergency. Finally, we will go through steps on how to use naloxone nasal spray, a lifesaving medication that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, and guide you on how to place an individual in the recovery position after naloxone has been administered.

So, what are opioids? Opioids are a class of drug that includes synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, the illegal drug heroin, and prescribed medications such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, and morphine. Opioids are often prescribed to treat pain, but they can be dangerous because they can be highly addictive and can cause overdoses. The use of opioids either by themselves or in combination with other drugs is a major contributor of the drug overdose crisis in the United States.

Many recent overdose deaths involved illicitly manufactured fentanyl and other potent synthetic opioids, which may be added to other drugs and consumed unknowingly. People consume fentanyl and other synthetic opioids both knowingly and unknowingly when these substances are mixed into or sold as other drugs like heroin, cocaine, or counterfeit pills.

Fentanyl is about 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Just 2 milligrams alone can be a lethal dose of fentanyl. Using a drug that has been contaminated with or replaced by fentanyl can greatly increase one’s risk of an overdose. People can’t see smell or taste fentanyl. That’s why it’s so important to be aware of what you’re taking and to avoid any unknown substances.

Even if something seems safe, it might not be. Counterfeit pills are like chocolate chip cookies; some parts of the pill may contain fentanyl while other parts may not. Fentanyl has been linked to more than half of all drug overdose deaths in United States since 2019.

Recognizing the signs of an overdose can save a life. Signs of an overdose may include small, constricted pinpoint pupils; falling asleep or losing consciousness; slow, weak, or no breathing; choking or gurgling sounds; limp body; cold and/or clammy skin; discolored skin, especially in the lips and nails.

It may be hard to tell if someone is having an overdose. If you are not sure, treat it like an overdose.

What is naloxone? Naloxone is a life-saving medication used to reverse an opioid overdose. Naloxone can quickly restore normal breathing to a person if their breathing has slowed or stopped because of an opioid overdose.

There are three common naloxone medications. It can be given through a nasal spray, an injectable, or auto injector into the outer thigh or another major muscle. For the purposes of this video we will be focusing on the nasal spray.

A common brand for naloxone nasal spray is Narcan. This is a needle-free device that requires no assembly and is sprayed into one nostril while a person lays on their back.

Naloxone should be given to anyone showing signs of an opioid overdose or when an overdose is suspected. It has no potential for abuse and is harmless if given to someone not experiencing an opioid overdose. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Even if naloxone is successful in restoring a person’s breathing, opioids are still in a person’s system. It’s crucial to seek Expert Medical Care as soon as possible by calling 911. After administering naloxone, stay with the individual until emergency help arrives.

Now we are going to go over how to administer naloxone nasal spray when you suspect an opioid overdose.

Step 1: Check for responsiveness. To begin, check if the person is responsive. You can do this by rubbing their sternum in the upper chest area, shouting their name loudly, or shaking their shoulders.

Step 2: Prepare naloxone nasal spray. Next, remove one nasal spray from the kit. Hold the spray with your thumb on the bottom of the plunger and your first and middle fingers on either side of the nozzle.

Step 3: Administer naloxone. Next, lay the person on their back on a flat surface. Tilt their head back and support their neck. Gently insert the tip of the nozzle into either nostril until your fingers touch the bottom of the nose. Press the plunger firmly to administer the full dose into their nose.

Step 4: Call 911. Immediately call or have someone call 911 after administering the first dose. Stay with the person and monitor them closely. Follow all instructions given by the 911 operator. If the person does not respond to the naloxone and you are trained in CPR and feel comfortable doing it, you can also include this technique. The caller and the person administering naloxone are protected from any liabilities by California Good Samaritan laws.

Step 5: Watch and repeat if needed. If the person remains unresponsive after 2 to 3 minutes, administer a second dose in the alternate nostril using the second nasal spray in your kit. Once the person begins breathing on their own, carefully place them in the recovery position.

The recovery position is crucial to prevent someone from suffocating or choking during an emergency. Before you place a person in the recovery position, you need to make sure the person is flat on the floor with no pillows around the head or face. If the person has thrown up, use their own fingers to remove any vomit from their mouth.

Now let’s go through the steps of placing someone in the recovery position:

Step 1 is to kneel down beside the person. Place their arm nearest to you up near their head at a 90° angle as if they are waving.

Step 2 is to grab the arm that is furthest from you and bring it across the person’s chest and place the back of the hand against their cheek to guide and support their head when rolling them onto their side.

Step 3 is to hold the person’s hand against their cheek as you grab the knee furthest away from you and lift it up so their knee is bent and their foot is flat on the floor.

Step 4 is to pull the knee that is furthest from you towards you so they roll over onto their side facing you. Then you will grab the bent leg and bring it forward and away from the body so it is resting on the floor.

Finally, you will raise their chin and tilt their head back to open the airway.

People wake up from an overdose differently. It is important to keep them calm and explain what has happened. After receiving the naloxone, a person may experience withdrawal symptoms, which can include agitation, sweating, nausea and vomiting, muscle aches, runny nose, diarrhea, and/or anxiety. The effects of naloxone vary, lasting between 20 to 90 minutes. While these symptoms are uncomfortable, they are not life-threatening.

It is important to call 911 to get the person the proper medical help. Reassure the person that help is on the way and that these symptoms will subside.

Carrying naloxone provides an extra layer of protection for those at a higher risk of overdose. Anyone such as friends, family, and non-healthcare providers can carry naloxone, administer it during an overdose, and potentially save a life. Naloxone is free and available to pick up at allcove Beach Cities. It is also available over the counter for purchase at most pharmacies and drugstores.

If you or anyone you know needs help or support, don’t hesitate to reach out to your primary healthcare provider or seek resources and support services available in your community. You are now equipped with the information you need to administer naloxone in the event of an emergency.

Thank you for watching. Stay informed, stay prepared, and most importantly, stay safe. Together we can make a difference in our communities.

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Hello. My name is Jim Sanborn. My son Kinhthi Sean Sanborn died on May 12, 2020 from an accidental overdose of fentanyl. I was once one of those parents that would watch the news and observe events like drug overdoses happen as they did to other people and, and my initial reaction was, you know, that’s too bad, you know, I’m glad that hasn’t happened to me. For all practical purposes, you know, I suppose I carried a chip on my shoulder when it came to my children. They were brought up in a well-to-do community where the welfare and education of the children was, was paramount. Both of my kids’ parents, you know, they have a college degree—college education. They both had full-time jobs. You know, what could go wrong? And on May 12th, after making several attempts to reach my son, I finally decided to call later on that night. And typical of our relationship, he was not always that responsive, so it didn’t surprise me, and I didn’t, um, I didn’t pursue it more aggressively in terms of getting in touch with him. But when I called at seven o’clock, the coroner’s office answered the phone. They told me what had happened, and at first, I just thought it was, I thought it was a joke. I thought, you know, that they—you know, it was some sort of practical—practical joke. But, you know, as the coroner explained in further detail what they had found, which was not much, you know it was just…it just became…it was definitely the…it was the worst night of my entire life. The police, they didn’t find any evidence of, of drug use. They searched this room; they searched the car. On his person they found nothing. So we immediately assumed that it might be COVID related or that he had a pre-existing condition that we didn’t know anything about. But when the autopsy report finally arrived in mid-August three and a half months later, it was comprised of several pages and as it turned out the number of pages really didn’t matter, for the cover, on the cover, there was a single sentence that provided the cause of death and that read “accidental overdose of fentanyl.” And that was it. There were no other drugs found in his system, and no other causes identified. The shock of, you know, receiving that report three and a half months later, it was like he just had just died all over again. It was…it was…it was unimaginable. It was so many emotions running through, ah, running through my mind.

We suspect that he was dealing with some anxiety and requested Xanax, but unfortunately, he was given a pill in the form of Xanax, but it was 100% fentanyl.

Let me describe who Kinhthi was. It’s hard to put that into words, but if I could—if, you know, if I can describe him as, you know, all the right that’s in this world, you know all the good that’s in this world, all the beauty in this world, I think I would have, you know, I would have described my son. He was…he was an incredible person, and a heartbreaking loss. Please, tonight, give your child a hug, and…and warn them of the dangers and educate them and, and… just get smart about this, this, you know, crisis that that we’re in. Too many people are dying.

I never thought this would happen to me and my family, and as it turns out, it’s turned, you know, it turned my world upside down. I will never be the same person I was prior to Kinhthi’s death. So please don’t let this happen to you. Thank you for your time.

The most severe and the most concerning opiate is a synthetic opioid product called fentanyl. It’s cheap, and street dealers use it to cut their products. So, when kids think they’re getting cocaine and Xanax bars and meth—which they do get from street dealers—they can be getting drugs that have been cut with fentanyl

These adulterated drugs or downright counterfeit drugs are laced just with even the slightest amount of fentanyl. But fentanyl, you need to know, is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine or heroin, according to the National Institute of Health. Even trace elements of fentanyl can result in disaster, even death. Now, these are crazy times. They’re vulnerable children—sad, lonely, confused, crazed by quarantine—who, when they see their friends, are not interested in being their safest selves. And there are parties that are going on in which pills, some gotten from parents’ pharmacies (otherwise known as medicine cabinets), but otherwise gotten from people on the street that can be laced with fentanyl or can be counterfeit altogether and can result in tragic, traumatic, or even lethal consequences.
If you believe your child is using or if you suspect that your child may be using drugs, I think it’s incredibly important that you trust your intuition. Trust your feeling. Many parents want to believe the best of their children. They don’t want to know or think that their children may be using drugs, and so they begin to deny that internal sense that they have. So again, very important: trust your intuition and trust your feelings. The most important thing if you suspect that is to talk to your children.

You know, you need to talk to your children so that they will listen, and you need to listen to your children so that they will talk to you.

It’s important to discuss feelings. Talk to them about how you feel about your concern, your fears, your worries. Try to avoid anger, try to avoid character assassination and blame, and avoid judgment. If you do that, they will block off and not speak to you. Hopefully they will talk to you. Hopefully they will open up. If you have a good relationship with them prior, then you have a better chance of that happening, but keep in mind, when it comes to children, teens discussing drug use with their parents, for the most part they’re not going to be forthcoming. They’re not going to be truthful. So keep that in mind. Again, as parents, we want to believe the best, and sometimes we’ll allow our desires to cloud our judgment. So it’s important to try to stay focused. We need to learn how to establish limits, consequences, and follow-through if we think our children are using drugs.

Those need to be related to the concerns you have, and again it’s a very important thing to do but

requires a little bit of understanding as to what that all means.

One of those limits or consequences should be, I believe, drug testing. Some parents do not believe in that, but I think drug testing is an important part of the, the battle against our children using drugs. For one thing, it allows us to have a much better understanding of what is really going on, and so if we suspect drug use and we can get negative drug tests, then there’s a good chance that we can let go of some of those suspicions. But another important reason for drug testing is it allows your child to have a, a tool to avoid peer pressure, so when their friends say, “hey, come on, try this” or “try that” or “just one time,” they can always say, “Look, I’m going to be drug tested when I get home and as a result I can’t do that.” So, again, it’s a tool for the child to say no to their friends. If you do believe your child is using, another thing that I believe is important to do is to try to engage with them in looking at their social media posts—their Facebook posts and other social media that they communicate with their friends. That’s really going to have a wealth of information. And again, if, as they get, as your suspicions grow and your concerns and fears grow more, then it becomes more important to really know what’s going on with them. And if you believe they are using to an extent beyond just having tried it, then you might want to consider—or you should consider, actually—getting professional help. And a good psychologist or therapist will help know what, how to speak to your child and how to perhaps get more information from them than you can.
Opioids are an interesting topic because, unfortunately, most people’s first introduction to them is through prescription drugs. Right, it’s not because they went to the street looking for heroin, and it’s generally not someone that has any preconception that they want to become an addict. Right, usually it’s someone that has a friend that plays sports, maybe sustained an injury, maybe they just got their wisdom teeth pulled, out or maybe they had some sort of a more severe surgery, but their first introduction is through something like Vicodin through something like Percocets, and it appears to be relatively harmless. Right. It’s a prescription drug, they have a friend that takes them periodically, that person is fine, they’re still doing well in school, maybe one of their parents deals with some pain issues and they take them and it’s not a big deal. And the problem is that opioids work really, really well. They numb you out, they make you feel good emotionally, they make you feel good physically. If you’re dealing with a breakup, if you’re dealing with a lot of other things that are regular parts of life, opioids take a lot of that pain away. And the other thing is that they’re not so intoxicating the way that something like a tremendous amount of alcohol is, for example, or the way that, you know, a bad trip on, on some sort of a psychedelic is. Right, so a lot of people think, hey this is harmless, right? I’m gonna drink this lean, I’m gonna take this Vicodin, and it’s not that big of a deal. Unfortunately, what happens is that opioids are very different from a lot of other drugs in the sense that you can rapidly develop a physical dependence. Usually it’s very, very cunning; usually it’s very, very insidious. It’s something that happens in spite of yourself. It’s something that you’re not aware that’s happening, but really, really rapidly, your body develops a physical dependence, and once that physical dependence starts, it’s not something that your force of will or, or you get to choose not to do, because you start to get sick. And from personal experience as someone in long-term recovery from opioid addiction, no one starts out saying, you know, I want to shoot heroin into my arm, right? That’s never how it begins. It starts out with, things are going well, I’m in school, I’m hanging out with my friends, I’m going to take these pills periodically. You know, I play sports, I get good grades, and it’s not that big of a deal. Then really quickly what happens is, all of a sudden it’s more expensive to find the prescription drugs. I can much more cheaply go get heroin or fentanyl on the street and use that instead, and by then you’re off to the races. And so what happens and morphs in the beginning into this very fun and light-hearted thing, really, really quickly, and without your, your knowing, and without your choice, becomes this really serious addiction that requires detoxification. It kicks you into withdrawals. You know, it can … it can lead to very serious overdose, and overdose isn’t something that’s limited, right, to the end stages. Someone can overdose their first few times, especially when mixing opioids with alcohol or other things like Xanax, which is very, very common, which unfortunately we’ve seen here in the South Bay. So, the next time you’re in a situation and you have a friend that’s using a prescription opiate or you’re considering taking one at a party or something, think twice and understand the big picture. It’s not about just the here and the now, but the trajectory of opioid use is never a pretty one.

My opioid addiction started when I got my hands on a leftover prescription from someone who got their wisdom teeth pulled. That was the beginning of an addiction that nearly took my life, but today I’m going to talk about some steps you can take in terms of prevention. If you or a loved one ever undergoes a medical procedure and a doctor prescribes you opioid painkillers, stop and ask, do I really need these? Is there something non-narcotic I can take? If the doctor does end up prescribing you opioid painkillers, ask for the least amount possible. They can always prescribe more if need be. Do not allow the person who’s actually prescribed the painkillers, the one who’s taking the pills, to be the one who’s holding the pill bottle. Have an adult who does not have a history of substance abuse be the one to hold the pills and make sure they’re being taken as prescribed. After the pain has subsided, if you don’t need the pills anymore, get rid of them. It doesn’t mean throw them in the garbage or flush them down the toilet. You can bring them to a prescription drop box at a local pharmacy or police station. Do not leave them in your medicine cabinet. After everything is all said and done, ask the person who took the pills, “How did it make you feel?” If they like the feeling, you might want to take some extra precautions in the future. Thank you and stay safe.

First and foremost, we all have a role to play in protecting social, emotional, physical well-being of all the youth in our community. The past five or six months, we’ve lost way too many students on accidental drug overdoses when these things could have been prevented. Even though we are distance learning, it seems as if students or young people are gaining access to prescription drugs and opioids a lot easier than what they would if we were physically on campus, and it all starts by … electronically. Using their phones or other social media accounts, they are communicating with people, whether they are other young people or adults in the local community, who are selling drugs online. So, just like we shop online, whether it be Walmart, Target, Nordstrom’s, Sprouts, Ralphs, wherever it is you shop, and we found ways to adjust during this time where we’re under safer at home orders, they, too, have found ways in which they can communicate with others locally and beyond to gain access to drugs. And so, parents, one thing you need to be mindful of is looking for patterns in your child’s social media activity. And what I mean by that is, in the past, we used to look and see what was being posted on Instagram or Facebook, looking at what types of comments were there. Look for patterns and trends as it relates to maybe your student giving the same person 25, 50 bucks every week. Now I don’t know about you, but there’s only so much pizza that young people can eat and be together at a gallery and share the cost of something. The other thing is, if there’s, if they’re sending funds electronically through your own bank account, I don’t know if kids are getting EBT cards or Visa cards that are prepaid with a certain amount of money on them, but you want to track those things. You want to identify patterns of behavior in which you see your student who is constantly giving the same people money around the same time of the week and looking for other ways that they are—they’re leaving a digital footprint. And so you want to see on their computers, on their Facebook, on their Instagram, on their TikTok, on their Snapchat, or just even on their cell phones, who and how are they communicating with other people, because now more than ever, I would have to say that students are getting access to these prescription drugs and opioids a lot easier than they would be under normal circumstances with schools in session.
I want to take a couple minutes to talk to you about what you should do in the case that a friend or family member overdoses on drugs. So, if you’re ever in the unfortunate situation where you’re with friends and you think one of them might have taken a drug and it looks like they’re overdosing, the most important thing that you can do right away is call 9-1-1. Please remember that if somebody is suffering from a drug overdose, there’s a short amount of time where the medical professionals can actually help your friend and family member with the things that they can bring to help them overcome the drug’s effect. Also remember that calling 911 is the most direct way to get that help to your friend or family member. It’s important to call the help—for help of your friends, your family, or your friends’ parents, or whoever else you need to help you, but make sure you prioritize your calls and call the professionals first. So, you dial 9-1-1, get somebody on their way that can help, and then you can call everybody else that you think needs to be called. When someone calls 9-1-1 for a friend in need, just so you understand what will happen, the first thing you’re going to experience is you’re going to talk to a dispatcher. That dispatcher is going to ask you what the problem is. This is the time when you need to be as clear as you can and tell them what you’re experiencing. So first tell them you’re calling for a friend who’s in need of medical assistance. Then you need to describe what’s happening, and even while you’re talking to the dispatcher, keep in mind that different people will be sent to help and the more information you can tell them, the better it is so that they can get the right people to your location. When you call 9-1-1, the first priority is to ensure that medical help is sent for your friend or your family member as quickly as possible. But I also want to be honest with you: in many cases, the police are also going to come to the scene when you call. It’s a normal part of what happens, but I want to be sure you understand why the police may come and what they are and what they are not looking for when they show up. The police are not looking to get you in trouble. In fact, there’s a law that protects people who call 9-1-1 to ask for help when someone is suspected of a drug overdose. So officers are not going to arrest you, they’re not going to charge you, they’re not going to do anything to you for calling to ask for help for a friend. They are there to make sure that things are safe. Keep in mind that the paramedics, they show up and their role is to help the person who is sick or injured. They’ll likely be there for a short time, and then they’re going to take that person who needs the help to the hospital. Officers are the ones that ensure that a safe environment is maintained for everybody that is left behind. They’ll make sure there’s no more drugs at the scene that could hurt someone else, and they’re going to also make sure that they understand exactly what happened so that they can make sure it’s safe moving forward and also so that they can notify the friends and family member of the person who was taken to the hospital. So, as I conclude, I want to state the obvious for you to consider. I’ve been talking to you about the things you should do if a friend or family member suffers from a drug overdose, but the most important thing you can do is make a decision today that you will not allow drugs to be a part of the circle of influence that you have. Think about all the people you know and all the people you care about. That’s your circle of influence, and you can make a difference with each one of them. If you care about those people—and I know you do—then you can make a decision that no matter what else you do, that you will not accept drugs or drug use amongst your circle of influence. This starts with the decision that you will set an example and not use drugs yourself. Now, if you’ve already started using drugs and you’re afraid you can’t stop, there’s ways to get help. I encourage you to talk to a parent or a teacher or even a friend and let them know you’re struggling. Now if you know somebody who’s struggling with drug use, be brave enough to talk to them. Let them know you can help them change. If you don’t know who in your circle of influence might be using drugs, just make sure that you’re open in your conversations with everybody you know that you don’t use drugs and you don’t want to be around them, but that you’re willing to help anybody who’s struggling with them. I’ve been a police officer for almost 28 years, and unfortunately, I’ve seen the horrible effects of drugs. I’ve seen teenagers die, I’ve seen parents die, and in some cases I have seen people who didn’t die but their lives ended up being much worse and much more difficult because of the drugs that they used. But no matter what, of all the people that I’ve ever met and ever worked with, I’ve never met anyone who says that taking drugs made their life better. I’ve learned to speak up in my circle of influence, and when I see something wrong, I can’t stay quiet. I’ve learned to speak up when I see police officers doing something wrong. I’ve learned to speak up when family members are doing something wrong. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it. There’s people that I know who weren’t happy with me when I spoke up about what they were doing wrong, but now that they’ve overcome their problem, they thank me for being brave enough to say something when they needed to hear it. I challenge each of you to be that person, and it just might save the life of someone you love.
I wanted to briefly talk to you today about a few issues that have been impacting our communities: addiction and overdose from opioids, fentanyl, and sedatives such as benzodiazepines. All of these substances touch us in some way, whether they’ve been prescribed by a physician due to pain and injury, or because you or someone you know may be using more of these substances than they’d like to. So I want to spend a little bit of time talking about what these are and how they can impact our lives. First, opioids are substances that interact with natural-occurring opiate receptors in our bodies. Examples of opioids include pain medications such as oxycodone, also known as OxyContin, or hydrocodone, also known as Vicodin. There are also medications for addiction, such as buprenorphine or methadone, or drugs like heroin. All of these are opioids. While opioids can be very helpful medicine to manage pain or treat addiction, they can also be misused because they can cause a sense of euphoria or a high and become habit-forming. Depending on the type of opioids, if it’s used with alcohol or other drugs, and the way in which it’s used, whether it’s taken by mouth or via an injection, there can be different risks associated. The most severe risk of opioids is reducing one’s breathing to the point of death, as opioid overdoses can occur when people take too much or when they use opioids in conjunction with other alcohol or drugs. The opioid epidemic has led to a dramatic increase in overdose deaths nationally as well as locally in Los Angeles County. We now unfortunately have one of the two people dying every day from opioid related overdoses. This is why it’s so important to only take opioids as prescribed and to avoid using it in combination with alcohol or other drugs or medications. Secondly, fentanyl deaths have also increased nationally, and locally in Los Angeles County, we’ve seen over a 100% increase since 2016. Fentanyl is a type of opioid that can either be made by pharmaceutical companies to be used as medicine for pain, or it can also be made illegally in underground labs. What makes fentanyl unique is how strong it is and the fact that a very small amount of it can result in significant side effects, including death. The other reason why it’s important for you to know about fentanyl is because it’s increasingly being illegally manufactured, put in counterfeit pills that look like other drugs or medications, and then being sold on the street. In particular, counterfeit prescription opioids and sedatives such as Xanax or Ativan are being found to contain fentanyl. It’s also being found in other street drugs such as methamphetamine or cocaine. All these situations are extremely concerning and dangerous because people often don’t know that they’re exposing themselves to fentanyl, and this is leading to avoidable overdose deaths. Thirdly, benzodiazepines are part of a class of medications called sedatives. These medications make your body slow down, so to speak, and are often used to address things like anxiety or difficulty sleeping. According to the prescription drug monitoring program in California, the Los Angeles County rate of prescribing of sedatives is second only to prescription opioids, so these are very common medications. Similar to prescription opioids, while sedatives like benzodiazepines can be very helpful for things like anxiety and insomnia, they can also become habit-forming and be misused, as they also give people a sense of euphoria or a high. Benzodiazepines can also result in slowing of the heart rate and breathing, which when combined with opioids and sedatives, or benzodiazepines and alcohol, can make the risk of overdose even greater. The risk of overdose with benzodiazepines is also concerning because many counterfeit pills now contain fentanyl, and many are made to look like commonly prescribed sedatives, so people don’t always know that they’re exposing themselves to something that could result in a fatal overdose.

When someone has had too much opioid, their muscles are relaxed, their speech is slow or slurred, and the person might look sleepy, might even be nodding to sleep, but they should respond to yelling and hard pinching and rubbing your knuckles hard on their sternum, which is really uncomfortable if you do it hard enough. When the dose of opioid is high enough, or if the opioid is combined with alcohol or other sedatives, this can create an opioid emergency. And in opioid emergency, you will find that the breathing has slowed to the point that the heart and the brain are not receiving adequate oxygen. So, if you observe a person in opioid emergency, you’ll notice that their skin can have a blue, purple, or gray tinge to it. It starts around the mouth and the fingernails and then it spreads to the rest of the body. You’ll find that their breathing has slowed or stopped, and they don’t respond to the sternal rub, to yelling, to pinching, to anything. Naloxone is a medication that reverses opioid overdose by actually displacing the opioid off the opioid receptor in the brain. Naloxone can’t cause harm to people even if they’re unconscious for a reason other than opioid overdose, and keep in mind also, in California, the Good Samaritan laws protect anyone who’s trying to help.

Naloxone is not a substitute for emergency medical care; it just buys time keeping the person alive until emergency care arrives and can help them. This is one form of naloxone that’s available. It’s a nasal spray. It’s also available in an injectable form and also a different kind of nasal spray that’s much more complicated. To use this one, you would position the patient on his or her back with the chin tilted slightly up, and then you insert the nozzle into the nose until your fingers are touching the person’s nose. Press on your thumb, and that deploys the medicine into the nose. Sometimes, two doses are needed. So, if you use one dose and the patient does not respond within two minutes, you may need to give a second dose in the other nostril. And that’s why usually naloxone is packaged in pairs. Naloxone only works for 30 to 90 minutes, and the opioids will last much longer than that. That’s why it’s critical to call 9-1-1 whenever you use naloxone, because when the naloxone wears off, the opioids will still be there, and the person will go right back into opioid emergency. A person reversed from opioid emergency is going to wake up disoriented and probably a little bit frightened. They won’t have known that they had an overdose. It’s important to explain to them what has happened and be absolutely certain that they depart in an ambulance. Now, you don’t need a prescription to obtain naloxone. You can get training for it at many pharmacies, and any pharmacist who’s trained to dispense this can dispense it without a prescription. Please remember that saving a life with naloxone is the beginning of a journey. People with substance use disorders, alcohol use disorder, opioid use disorder may need months or even years of support and treatment in order to abstain from substances. If you think that you might have a problem with alcohol or drugs, I suggest reaching out first to your health insurance company. See what services are available to you, and if you don’t have health insurance, you can call 2-1-1 in Los Angeles County to access services through them. Drugabuse.gov is a very good website for reliable, accurate information. Thank you again to Beach Cities Health District, and stay safe out there.

I think there’s several things at a local level that that we can do. One is, redirect the discussion about fentanyl and its danger from, from the adults directly to the children. The conversation needs to be

given to a new audience, and that audience is our kids.

So, again, so let’s educate them. Let’s show them what fentanyl is, describe to them what it looks like. If they’re in an emergency situation and somebody they’re with—or themselves—are experiencing an overdose, they need to understand how to identify it, diagnose it, and what to do, you know, in case of an emergency.

And unfortunately, we need to give this presentation to kids starting in the fifth grade. Kids are dying from, you know, a majority of the cases are kids that are between the ages of 12 and 25. We need to let the kids know what their legal right is. The night prior to Kinhthi’s death, he was texting with his friends, and he knew he was feeling bad, but he was too scared to go to the, to call 9-1-1.

Let’s talk about some steps to prevent future tragedies. There are some things we can do. First is to be informed. I truly value privacy, but privacy concerns go out the window when we’re dealing with our children’s safety. It’s always a good idea to track locations and to know the parents of your children’s friends—to know them to confirm plans and to understand group dynamics. Next, we need to learn. Both South Bay Families Connected and Beach Cities Health District have a treasure trove of literature and videos of what to look for if you’re concerned about your children’s substance abuse. And simple things: smell for alcohol, look for signs of being high or altered. It’s also better to make mistakes and apologize afterwards than to look the other way when there’s possible substance abuse. Make waves. If you see that your child has changed in a fundamental way or a slight but telling way—

different friend groups, deteriorating grades, less connected, profoundly distracted—

figure out what’s going on. Even if drug use is not at play, find out what’s affecting your child. And one way to help is to look at Snapchat, look at the various accounts that they have on Instagram to see if they’re locked boxes; that means you need to get passwords. Also, reconnect. You often know more than anyone else how to most effectively get through to your beloved child, and before you’re heartsick, if you can’t figure this out on your own, talk to therapists, talk to counselors, talk to friends and family to come up with an effective strategy. Sometimes gentle is best, sometimes strong is best, sometimes combination, sometimes staying local is best, sometimes going away is best. Discuss the options with people you trust. You know who your child is. Most of all, be fearless. If drugs are involved, it’s essential to be your child’s champion. Sometimes a family must deal with gossip and exclusion. It’s happened. Don’t worry. Be brave. Let your child know you’re not giving up on him or her. There are so many local programs and treatment centers and therapists.

Many of them have sliding scales. Be your child’s advocate.

Of course, tragedy can happen even when we do all these things, but let’s take every step we can to try to prevent another overdose death. And if there’s any sort of imminent danger, call 9-1-1 immediately.

We’ve had some problems in our community, we’ve had some deaths in our community, and you know, we all need to look at what can we do to prevent that from happening. Ultimately that is the biggest tragedy of all—this is, the, you know, when children die of an overdose. You know, we need to know where the source of medication, source of pills are, and there are two sources: One, kids get it in the street. Very dangerous, extremely dangerous, they buy pills from someone that has, we don’t know what’s in that, in that pill that they’re selling, and quite often it is filled with things that are deadly like fentanyl. But the major source of medication, major source of pills, is right in your own medicine cabinet. We all get medications. We get sometimes pain pills if we go to a dentist. The dentist will give us 30 Vicodin and we’ll use two, maybe, or one, and then we will put the rest in—for some strange reason, I do it myself—we put it in the closet, in our medicine cabinet. It is really important to keep those medications secure, preferably in a locked bag, and certainly to have a good understanding and an inventory of what you have. Probably even better that once you’re done with your medical situation, get rid of the medications. You can turn them into the police stations, you can turn them into hospitals have take-back programs, but there’s no reason to hold on to prescriptions that are not in use. You might say, “Well, my child has no problem. I’m not worried about that. My child is honest.” That may very well be true. Keep in mind your child has friends come over and sometimes they have a problem with drugs, and kids who have a problem know exactly where to go when they need a pill. So they’ll go into your medicine cabinet and they won’t take your entire bottle of pills because you’ll know that that’s missing. What they’ll do, if you have 25 pills, they might take 10 of them. So, again, keep an eye on your medications, don’t keep medications that you don’t need, and keep whatever medications you do have secure.

This is a community issue that we all need to assist our young people, and so there are a lot of resources that are available: Beach Cities Health District, South Bay Families Connected, Thelma McMillen, Behavioral Health Services, and Clear Recovery are great organizations that Redondo Beach partners with and the greater Redondo Beach South Bay community also works very closely with. So resources are available, so if you see any signs in your children—whether it be, as I mentioned, through the digital footprint and looking for patterns of behavior, or if you see any change in their social, emotional, and physical well-being—you want to make sure that you’re reaching out to these available resources and you’re asking for assistance. Remember, it’s okay to ask for help. We want to make sure that we work with our young people, and we can save lives.

Now that we know a little bit more about opioids, fentanyl, and sedatives such as benzodiazepines, what are some things we can be doing as a community to prevent another overdose? One is naloxone. We can all be carrying something called naloxone. This is an opioid overdose reversal medication, and I like to think of it as an epinephrine pen for overdose. Epinephrine pens are commonly used for severe allergic reactions and people carry them around just in case they might need them, and, similarly, naloxone does the same for opioid overdoses in that it can reverse opioid overdoses in a matter of minutes. When administered it can be lifesaving. It also comes in easy-to-use nasal spray or can be administered by injection. It’s important that all of us carry naloxone because we never know when we may come across someone who might need it and so keeping it with us gives us the potential to save a life. If you don’t know what the drug the person has taken is, it’s still helpful to give naloxone as it’s generally more likely to help than to cause harm. You can obtain naloxone at most pharmacies or also from your prescriber such as your primary care provider. The second thing that communities can be doing is talking more about the risks of counterfeit pills and drugs that are increasingly found in our streets. In these instances, people may be taking something that they have no idea may contain fentanyl and may be life-threatening. The best thing we can do in these situations is let everyone we care about know that they should avoid taking any medications unless they receive it directly from their pharmacy or their prescriber. For those who have loved ones that may be using drugs, let them know that those drugs increasingly are being found with fentanyl and to avoid any potential use. In situations where they’re around others who might be using, we encourage everyone to carry naloxone to help reverse an opioid overdose. And the last thing that communities can be doing to minimize the risk of overdose is to know how to get help. Those that have commercial insurance should contact their primary care doctor or insurance to access care for their substance use. People who have Medi-Cal or perhaps no insurance can call Los Angeles County’s toll-free substance abuse services helpline: 844-804-7500. By calling that line, a team of caring professionals are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to walk you through the process of getting connected with treatment. As I close, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s Substance Abuse Prevention and Control is here to help, and we want to encourage you to keep these words in mind: Prevention first, treatment works, and recovery is possible. Thank you.