Take Home Naloxone Service

Take Home Naloxone Service

What is Naloxone?

Naloxone is an emergency medication used to reverse the effects of overdoses caused by opioid drugs such as heroin, methadone, fentanyl, oxycodone, buprenorphine, or morphine.

Naloxone can also be effective against overdoses caused by the illicit synthetic opioid group called nitazenes which can be significantly more toxic than other opioids and therefore have a greater risk of an overdose.

Some factors that can increase the risk of an overdose are: using alone, using too much, injecting, changes in drug purity levels, polydrug use, and low tolerance (for example, following prison release or detox/hospital discharge).

When to use naloxone

When you know or suspect that someone has overdosed on an opioid drug.

Some signs of a suspected opioid overdose are: pinpoint pupils, blue or purple lips/fingernails, no response to touch or sounds, slow or no breathing, and gasping or gulping sounds.

Naloxone is not a substitute for emergency medical care. You should always call for an ambulance even when you have used naloxone.

What is the Oxfordshire Take Home Naloxone service?

The Oxfordshire Take Home Naloxone service supplies naloxone and training on its use to people who may be at risk of an opioid overdose or who may witness an opioid overdose, for example:

• someone who currently uses, or has a history of using, opioid drugs
• a family member/friend/carer of a person who uses opioid drugs
• a worker for a service whose clients include people who use opioid drugs

If you have naloxone, you should always carry it and let people know you have it.

Where you can get a free naloxone pack

1. You can get a free naloxone pack from Turning Point.
2. If you have used your naloxone pack to save someone’s life in an emergency, you can ask the attending South‑Central Ambulance Service paramedics for a free replacement naloxone pack.
3. You can get a free naloxone pack from some Oxfordshire community pharmacies; further information about the Oxfordshire Pharmacy Take Home Naloxone Service can be found below.

Oxfordshire Pharmacy Take Home Naloxone Service

You can now get a free naloxone pack and training on its use from select community pharmacies across Oxfordshire

The following list of pharmacies has been approved to supply free naloxone packs. This list will be regularly updated as needed.

Please note that sometimes the trained pharmacist who can supply naloxone may be away or unavailable. Ask at the pharmacy counter for information about the Take Home Naloxone supply.