Overdose myths
1. 'Trying to walk someone around will stop themoverdosing'
Keeping someone awake may feel like the right thing to do, but the forces of a drugs overdose are too powerful to be counteracted by any act of will. So all the things that are done to keep people awake - cold water, slapping etc. - don’t do any good at all.

2. 'Injecting salt water helps people who have overdosed'
There is an idea that injecting salt water into someone who has overdosed will bring them round. It won’t. This myth has probably arisen because when people are admitted to hospital unconscious the staff often put up a ‘drip’. This is a mixture of water and a tiny amount of salt.

In fact, injecting salt water won’t do any good at all and can be very dangerous. If, in the panic, the salt water is drawn up into a used fit, there is a risk of giving them HIV or hepatitis too!

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