International Overdose Awareness Day is August 31, and this year, Health Resources in Action is supporting the Massachusetts Department of Health’s recognition of the day in Boston Common. IOAD is a campaign to raise awareness of overdose deaths, gather in community, break down stigma, remember those who have died from overdose, and acknowledge the grief of their loved ones left behind. We spoke with Elizabeth Reardon—Associate Director of Capacity Building Assistance and BeHERE Training team member and trainer—about IOAD, this year’s events, and harm reduction.
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Kyra Robins: Can you tell us about the importance of IOAD and how it connects to harm reduction?
Elizabeth Reardon: International Overdose Awareness Day recognizes the immense loss that so many people across our state, and across the world, have had related to OD death, and it provides a space for people to grieve in community. Often overdose, because it’s so stigmatized, is in the shadows. Folks will say something like “people aren’t bringing you casseroles if your family member dies of overdose like they would if they died of cancer.” So, IOAD is an opportunity to raise awareness about the fact that this is happening and create space for people to be together in their grief and in their healing. It’s directly related to harm reduction because we know that every overdose fatality is preventable. No one should die from an overdose. We have tools and simple actions like rescue breathing that we know we can share with people that will prevent overdose death.
What are some common misconceptions you think people should know about substance use?
First, I would say the biggest misconception that I think continues to be pervasive is that somehow it’s a choice, somehow it’s a moral failing of a person, that they want to be living in whatever way they’re living. And we know today that it’s actually very complex and has biological, psychological, and social influences.
Second, when we’re talking about overdose rescue, we hear a lot about naloxone, and that’s amazing – I feel like over the last few years it’s been pushed out into communities and many folks carry it, but we don’t hear as much about rescue breathing. When someone overdoses from opioids, what is happening is that they stop breathing. The brain stops telling the lungs to breathe. The most important thing we can do is get breath into someone and luckily for us it is free and easy to rescue breathe – just one big breath every five seconds. Even if you don’t have naloxone on you, you can keep someone alive just by rescue breathing. There’s a lot of fear around rescue breathing, but in my experience all those fears go out the window when you see someone in front of you isn’t breathing.
How can people and communities get involved? Where can people go to learn more or access resources (whether they use substances, love someone who does, or are working in this space)?
The You Can website—which I love— has both very simple explainer videos that show you how to recognize and respond to an overdose, rescue breathe, and use naloxone, and has stories from real folks across the state. These stories are meant to break down the stigma about people who use drugs and harm reduction more generally.
The Massachusetts Substance Use Helpline is also an amazing resource that anyone can access for resources across the spectrum of services, whatever they’re looking for. Anything from harm reduction to treatment, to recovery, to support for loved ones, to grief support – I would definitely recommend that folks talk to somebody on the Helpline if they’re looking for resources. Call 800-327-5050 or text “HOPE” to 800327 to speak to a Helpline Specialist today.
We also have a program called the Helpline Champions where people in communities across the state get involved and help spread the word about this, the Helpline as a resource. And these are folks who, in in one way or another, are very passionate about both, you know, caring for people who are using drugs, and getting people the help that they might need.
What should people know about the broader trend of substance use in MA?
Overdose fatalities slightly declined this year in Massachusetts for the first time in maybe seven or eight years. We want to be sure that we’re letting folks know that just because there is this slight reduction in overdose fatalities, the state and HRiA are not letting up. We also know that if you dig deeper into these numbers, folks from black and brown communities are being disproportionately affected by overdose and overdose fatalities. Our continued efforts and these persistent disparities are the main messages we want to communicate with the public.
What role is HRiA playing in this year’s IOAD Boston event, and what should people expect if they attend?
Our role this year is to partner with BSAS to coordinate this event. In the past, HRiA has shown up and brought resources and tabled, but this year we’re playing a more central organizing role, which is really exciting. Folks can expect to see over 20,000 little purple flags planted in front of the State House on the first morning, the 29th, to mark and remember all the lives lost to overdose. We will have speakers and resources—including naloxone and rescue breathing masks.
How might this year’s event differ from past years?
There will be more of a focus this year on grief support and making sure each day there’s an organization present at the tables who can help folks process and just talk through some of that grief. What we’ve found over the years is that when people show up to the event, they have a story – even when they’re tourists who stumble upon it, they know someone and want to process. We also will have a table where folks can put a name on a wooden heart to remember their loved one, and we always have stickers that folks can write their loved one’s names on and place on one of the flags.