If someone has overdosed, put them in the recovery position and keep watching them. You need to know if they are asleep or unconscious. You can find out by shouting or pinching their ear.

They are unconscious if you can’t wake them or they are showing other signs of unconsciousness such as:

snoring deeply, turning blue; or not breathing

Don’t panic

Put them in the recovery position

Dial 999 and ask for an ambulance

Stay with them until the ambulance arrives

Call an Ambulance

If someone is unconscious they need an ambulance. If you are worried about the police coming, don’t mention drugs when you dial 999. Tell them you’ve found someone unconscious and explain what has happened when the ambulance arrives.

Make sure there is no shouting or panic in the background when you dial 999 to reduce the chances of the police coming.

Remember: if you don’t call an ambulance and someone dies, the police will always come so that they can inform relatives and investigate the death. If the person who died had been given an injection by someone else, there could be a charge of manslaughter.

Calling an ambulance saves liv es

Giving mouth-to-mouth

1. The person should be lying flat on their back.

2. Remove chewing gum or anything else you can see in their mouth, then lift their chin.

3. Pinch their nostrils together, using your first finger and thumb.

4. Take a deep breath and make a good seal around their lips with your mouth.

5. Blow steadily until you see their chest rise.

6. Take your mouth away and let their chest sink right back down.

7. Repeat steps 3 to 6.

If you are giving mouth-to-mouth but find that the person isn’t moving at all (look to see if their eyes are moving) or is getting bluer or colder

Don’t waste time looking for a pulse

Start chest compression straightaway.

Chest compression (also known as heart massage)

Even if their heart is still beating, if they are not moving and are getting bluer or colder, their heartbeat can’t be that strong. You won’t do any harm by starting chest compressions, and you could save their life.

Giving chest compression

2. Put the heel of your other hand on their breastbone, just above where your two fingers are.

3. Put your first hand on top of this hand, locking your fingers together 

4. Keeping your shoulders above the centre of the person’s chest and your arms straight, press down on their chest by about 4 to 5 cm (1.5 to 2 inches).

5. Release the pressure, but keep your hands where they are. This is a chest compression.

6. Do 15 chest compressions in just under 10 seconds.

7. Give two breaths of mouth-to-mouth.

8. Continue to give 15 compressions followed by two breaths of mouth-to-mouth, until help arrives

If their heart starts beating again, and their colour changes from blue to pink, stop chest compressions and continue with mouth-to-mouth if necessary

2. Straighten their legs.

3. Put the arm nearest to you at right angles to their body.

4. Pull the arm furthest from you across their chest and put the back of their hand against the cheek which is nearest to you.

5. Get hold of their far leg, just above the knee, and pull it up, keeping the foot flat on the ground.

6. Keep their hand pressed against their cheek.

7. Pull on their upper leg to roll them towards you, and onto their side.

8. Tilt their head back to make sure they can breathe easily.

9. Make sure that both the hip and the knee of their upper leg are bent at right angles.

The overall aim of the National Naloxone Programme is to contribute to a reduction in fatal opioid overdoses in Scotland. Naloxone is a medication that temporarily reverses the effects of opioid overdose, available to anyone at risk of opioid overdose.