Tuesday May 7th is

Fentanyl Awareness Day

Springboard is partnering with Nexstar Media group and ABC KMID-Big 2 & FOX 24 KPEJ to bring attention to Fentanyl Awareness Day.
Extended Interviews with Springboard staff will be shown on the evening news broadcasts.

We dedicate May 7th to raise awareness about the impact that this lethal drug has brought to our community, focusing on the measures that parents can take to keep their children safe.

According to the USC School of Medicine:

Fentanyl is the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of eighteen to forty-five.

More deaths than suicide, firearms, cancer, or heart disease.

In 2021, fentanyl took more lives than COVID.

Dealers are flooding our streets with fake prescription pills that are cut with this highly lethal substance.

More information about the fentanyl epidemic can be found here.

Watch the entire fentanyl segment in full here.

Fentanyl and Overdose

Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids are the most common drugs involved in overdose deaths. Even in small doses, it can be deadly. Over 150 people die every day from overdoses related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl.

Drugs may contain deadly levels of fentanyl, and you wouldn’t be able to see it, taste it, or smell it. It is nearly impossible to tell if drugs have been laced with fentanyl unless you test your drugs with fentanyl test strips.

Test strips are inexpensive and typically give results within 5 minutes, which can be the difference between life or death. Even if the test is negative, take caution as test strips might not detect more potent fentanyl-like drugs, like carfentanil.

More CDC information about fentanyl can be found here.

Signs of Overdose

Recognizing the signs of opioid overdose can save a life.
Here are some things to look for:

• 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 lips and nails)

What To Do If You Think Someone is Overdosing:

It may be hard to tell whether a person is high or experiencing an overdose. If you aren’t sure, treat it like
an overdose – you could save a life.

1 Call 911 Immediately.*
2 Administer naloxone, if available.**
3 Try to keep the person awake and breathing.
4 Lay the person on their side to prevent choking.
5 Stay with the person until emergency assistance arrives.

*Most states have laws that may protect a person who is overdosing or the person who called for help from
legal trouble.

** Naloxone is a life-saving medication that can reverse the effects of opioid overdose and save lives. It is
available in all 50 states and can be purchased from a local pharmacy without a prescription in most states.

How Parents Can Keep Their Kids Safe:

Drugs can affect any family, but by talking with your kids and staying involved in their lives, you can help keep them safe. Know who their friends are and where they spend their time.

Keep an open line of communication with your kids and make talking about drugs a part of general health and safety conversations.

Give your kids the facts before they’re in a risky situation. This can make them less likely to experiment with drugs or to rely on friends for answers.

Talk openly about drugs, address misinformation, openly discuss when celebrities or figures in the news overdose. Talk about how they didn’t mean to overdose, that people using drugs are gambling with their lives. Discuss how dealers cut drugs with other drugs that can be fatal without the user ever knowing.

Give your kids a safe word or phrase allowing them to avoid peer pressure. If they are in a situation where they are being pressured, kids can use a safe phrase like “Oh, were having pizza tonight” or “My grandparents are there”. It really doesn’t matter what safe word/s you choose, as long as you know to immediately pick them up and get them out of that situation.

Set your expectations early.

Monitor and set appropriate time allocations for social media, video games, TV, etc.

More information about how to talk to children about drugs can be found here.

From the Texas Health & Human Services Commission

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

• Fentanyl is an opioid with heroin-like properties.
• Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine.
• There are 2 types of fentanyl: pharmaceutical fentanyl and illegally made fentanyl – most overdose cases are due to illegally made.
• Fentanyl is added to other drugs as well to make them stronger, cheaper, and more addictive – it creates a much stronger PHYSICAL dependence than stimulants alone.

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