An overdose can look like someone’s just asleep.  17, 18  

Look for these four signs to see if they are overdosing.

Not waking up

Not responding to their name or you shaking them

Slow breathing

Struggling to breathe, snoring, gurgling, or not breathing at all

Discolored skin

Feeling clammy and looking blueish or grayish

Slow heartbeat

Slow or stopped heartbeat
‍

If you answered “yes” to any of these signs, call 911 immediately–even if you’re not sure.

The Good Samaritan law protects you.

Know how to help someone who is overdosing

Overdose can happen in minutes. If a friend is overdosing, stay calm and get them help as fast as possible.

Call 911

Put the phone on speaker and place it on the ground.

If you call 911 for an overdose, you and your friends are protected by the Good Samaritan Law in Virginia.

Good Samaritan Law

Give naloxone

Place in their nose. Press the spray. Repeat if needed.

Find naloxone

Start hands-only CPR

Push hard and fast in the middle of their chest to help restart their heart and lungs.

Learn hands-only CPR

Wait for help

If they are breathing, stay with them and check in on how they are doing until help arrives.

Carrying naloxone can save your friend’s life. 19

Naloxone (you may know it as Narcan®) is an easy-to-use nasal spray that can reverse a fatal fentanyl overdose.

Where to get naloxone

Naloxone training

You can get naloxone (aka Narcan®)
by doing a free training or at a local pharmacy.

Sources
1. Rate of fatal fentanyl overdose
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2025, February 13). SUDORS dashboard: Fatal drug overdose data.
2. Preventable drug overdose deaths
National Safety Council. (n.d.). Drug overdoses. Injury Facts. 
3. Overdose deaths and emergency room visits in Virginia
Virginia Department of Health, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. (2025, April). Fatal drug overdose quarterly report, 4th quarter 2024. 

* Data reflects the Medical Examiner’s 2024 Q4 report and was current at the time of publication. As official figures are finalized, discrepancies may appear in other dashboards.
4. The fentanyl crisis in Virginia
Virginia Department of Emergency Management. (n.d.). Operation Free Virginia.
5. 2 in 5 people know someone who has died from overdose
RAND. (2024, February 21). More than 40 percent of Americans know someone who died of drug overdose; 13 percent say deaths have disrupted their lives.
6. Illicit pills can change hands 10 times
Mars, S. G., Rosenblum, D., & Ciccarone, D. (2019). Illicit fentanyls in the opioid street market: Desired or imposed?. Addiction (Abingdon, England), 114(5), 774–780.
7. Fentanyl is flooding the opioid supply
Rothberg, R. L., & Stith, K. (2018). Fentanyl: A whole new world?. The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics: A Journal of the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 46(2), 314–324.
8. Fentanyl is colorless and odorless
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. (n.d.). Get informed, stay safe: Fentanyl in Los Angeles County.
9. Fentanyl is impossible to see, smell, and taste
Rigg, K. K., & Kusiak, E. S. (2023). Perceptions of fentanyl among African Americans who misuse opioids: Implications for risk reduction. Harm Reduction Journal, 20(1), 179.
10. You can’t test for fentanyl without fentanyl test strips
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024, April 2). What You can do to test for fentanyl.
11. Fentanyl is about 50x more powerful than heroin
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024, April 2). Fentanyl facts.
12. As of 2024, 1 in 2 pills can contain fentanyl
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. (n.d.). One pill can kill.
13. A few salt-sized grains of fentanyl are deadly
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. (n.d.). Facts about fentanyl.
14. Fentanyl is often mixed into counterfeit pills
Raheemullah, A., & Andruska, N. (2019). Fentanyl analogue overdose: Key lessons in management in the synthetic opioid age. Journal of Opioid Management, 15(5), 428–432.
15. All types of street drugs are laced with fentanyl
Northwestern University. (n.d.). Fentanyl overdose prevention.
16. Fentanyl is being laced in illicit pills and powders
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). The facts about fentanyl.
17. Fentanyl overdose can look like someone sleeping
Columbia University Irving Medical Center. (n.d.). Fentanyl overdose. Columbia Doctors.
18. How to spot signs of fentanyl overdose
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024, May 8). Preventing opioid overdose.
19. Naloxone can reverse a fentanyl overdose
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024, April 2). Lifesaving naloxone.