Community Resources
Last updated 12/18/2024.
The Overdose Surveillance and Response (OSAR) program is committed to community engagement including raising awareness about the risks of substance use, promoting harm reduction strategies, and connecting individuals with local resources.
On this page:
Prevention
There are strategies that can help prevent overdose and support the health and well-being of communities. Ways to prevent opioid overdose are to improve opioid prescribing, reduce opioid exposure, prevent illegal use and prescription misuse, and treat opioid use disorder.
No single treatment method is right for everyone. However, research shows that medications are especially effective in helping people recover.
- Counseling and psychosocial support may also provide more benefit for some patients.
- Medications for substance use
disorder include: Buprenorphine, Methadone, and Naltrexone.
Resources
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- Buprenorphine Treatment Practitioner Locator
- Medications for Opioid Overdose, Withdrawal, & Addiction (English) | In Spanish (National Institute on Drug Abuse)
- Substance Use Disorder Services (County of San Diego, Behavioral Health Services): Find local substance use disorder prevention programs and treatment services.
-
Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Treatment Locator:
Confidential and anonymous resource for persons seeking treatment
for mental and substance use disorders.
- Call 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
Naloxone, also known as Narcan, is a life-saving medication that can reverse an opioid overdose when given in time.
- Naloxone is easy to use and small to carry.
- There
are 2 forms of naloxone that anyone can use without medical
training:
- prefilled nasal spray, and
- injectable.
Both are safe, effective, and can help save a life.
- If you, or someone you know, is at increased risk for opioid overdose, consider obtaining naloxone at no cost to carry with you or keep at home.
Resources
Fentanyl is a powerful opioid that increases the risk of overdose.
- It is found in drugs, such as heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, ketamine, and counterfeit pills from non-medical sources.
- It cannot be detected by sight, taste, smell, or touch.
- Knowing if the drugs you plan to use have fentanyl in them can lower the risk of overdose.
Fentanyl Test Strips (FTS) are small strips of paper that can findl fentanyl in different kinds of drugs. It cannot tell how much, or how strong, the fentanyl is.
Resources:
- Lower the Risk of Overdose with Fentanyl Test Strips | Spanish
- Free or low-cost FTS can be found in the Directory of Syringe Services Program in California.
- Fentanyl (CDC)
Local
- 2-1-1: Call 2-1-1 to speak to a representative who will help connect you to services and resources near you.
- It's Up to Us: Learn about substances and find resources for substance use disorder in San Diego.
-
San
Diego Access and Crisis Line: Call 1-888-724-7240 for
immediate support and resources on all behavioral health topics,
including alcohol and substance use services
- 24-hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Confidential and free of charge.
- Live Chat available Monday – Friday 4:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
- Substance Use and Medication Assistance Treatment (MAT) Locator
National
-
Never Use Alone: Call
877-696-1996 for overdose prevention, detection, life-saving crisis
response, and medical intervention services for people who use drugs
while alone.
- 24-hours a day, 7 days a week.
Contact the Overdose
Surveillance and Response program via email at PHS.OSAR.HHSA@sdcounty.ca.gov, or call the Epidemiology Unit
at (619) 692-8499, for more information.
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