Overdoses
In the United States, over 81,000 drug overdose deaths occurred the 12 months ending in May 2020, the highest number of overdose deaths ever recorded in a 12-month period. More specifically, in 2019, deaths involving prescription opioids rose to over 14,000. And every single day, over 100 people die of an opioid-related overdose in the United States.
These stats are staggering and it is no wonder that opioid drug use has become a serious epidemic.
It is fairly easy to overdose on opioids, especially if the user is mixing it with other substances or is taking too much due to increased tolerance.
The following are signs of an opioid overdose.
- Unresponsive to outside stimulus
- Awake, but unable to talk
- Breathing is very slow and shallow, erratic, or has stopped
- For lighter-skinned people, the skin tone turns bluish purple, for darker-skinned people, it turns grayish or ashen.
- Choking sounds, or a snore-like gurgling noise (sometimes called the “death rattle”)
- Vomiting
- The body is very limp
- The face is very pale or clammy
- Fingernails and lips turn blue or purplish black
- Pulse (heartbeat) is slow, erratic, or not there at all
If a user is around someone else while overdosing, they have a much better chance of living.