Preventing opioid and fentanyl overdose - OPUS program
Lakeview Center’s OPUS program (Overdose Prevention & Underlying Services program) is an opioid prevention program. We provide community education about opioid and fentanyl overdose risks and free access to overdose reversal medications such as NARCAN®. In addition, our team also provides rapid HIV and Hepatitis C testing and street outreach services.
OPUS helps people in the throes of opioid addiction by meeting them where they are on their life journey. Call 850-595-0176 or simply click on the link below to auto call the team.
Our goal: Prevent death by overdose
What is fentanyl?
Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid, similar to morphine, but 50-100 times more potent. It’s a prescription drug used to treat severe or chronic pain, but it can also be illegally produced. Fentanyl is most often illegally sold as a powder, dropped onto blotter paper, put in eye droppers and nasal sprays, mixed with heroin, cocaine, MDMA and methamphetamines or made into pills that look like the pills you get from a pharmacy, making it impossible to detect the drug until it’s too late. A tiny amount of fentanyl puts everything you care about at risk.
There is no shame in seeking help for addiction, but the OPUS program is focused on helping people who are not yet ready to access treatment services. Why? Because fentanyl production is at epidemic proportions, and fentanyl is not detectable by the naked eye. An amount equal to a grain of salt can be deadly, and the next dose could be your last. As of July 2021, Florida is second in the nation for overdose deaths.
OPUS is funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP).
For support or free NARCAN, call the OPUS program at 850-595-0176.
What is NARCAN?
Also known as Naloxone, NARCAN medication is easy to use and rapidly reverses an opioid overdose. It works as an opioid antagonist, meaning it binds to opioid receptors to reverse and block the effects of opioids. However, NARCAN has no effect on someone who does not have opioids in their system. Before administering NARCAN, call 911. Those who are given NARCAN should be monitored for another two hours after the last dose to make sure breathing does not slow or stop.
Another goal of OPUS is to educate our community about how Good Samaritan Laws affect use of medications such as NARCAN in emergency situations. According to the National Institutes of Health, the basic premise of Good Samaritan Laws is to limit liability for those who voluntarily perform care and rescue in emergency situations.
NARCAN is free.
Lakeview Center understands that addiction makes it extremely difficult to stop using opioids without help, but fentanyl continues taking more lives. If you or someone you know uses opioids, it’s important to get help for opioid addiction. Have a supply of NARCAN on hand to prevent a death during an overdose. It’s free.
