Opioid intoxication and overdose

At a glance

• Opioids are involved in most drug-induced deaths in Australia. In 2024 heroin was involved in 55.6% of unintentional opioid deaths and pharmaceutical opioids in 42.2%, with heroin deaths at their highest this century. About two-thirds of unintentional drug-induced deaths involve two or more drug types. People aged 50 to 59 are now the largest group (25.5%), almost half of deaths are in people 50 or over, and stimulant deaths rose 25% in a year (Penington 2026, 2024 data).
• Toxidrome: reduced consciousness, pinpoint pupils, respiratory rate under 10.
• Ventilate first with a bag-valve-mask, then titrate naloxone to breathing, not to full arousal.