Talking with the patient

How to explain opioid safety and naloxone

Other platforms explain it with text and video. In VMS you practice it on the patient.

MD / DOPANursing (NCLEX)EMS (NREMT)
Practice it in VR with Blocky

Anyone who takes opioids, or lives with someone who does, can face an overdose. Knowing the signs and having naloxone at home saves lives.

Step by step

  1. Talk about safe use

    Take opioids only as prescribed. Do not mix them with alcohol, benzodiazepines or sleep medicines. [1]

  2. Store and dispose safely

    Lock medicines away from children and visitors, and bring leftovers to a take-back site. [1]

  3. Name the overdose signs

    The person will not wake up, breathes slowly or not at all, has blue or gray lips and tiny pupils. [2]

  4. Call 911

    Call for help, try to wake the person by shouting and rubbing the breastbone, and get the naloxone. [2]

  5. Give nasal naloxone

    Lay the person on their back, put the nozzle in one nostril and press the plunger. Start rescue breaths or CPR if they are not breathing. [3]

  6. Watch and repeat

    If there is no response in 2 to 3 minutes, give a second dose in the other nostril. Naloxone can wear off, so stay with the person. [2]

  7. Use the recovery position

    If the person is breathing, turn them on their side until help arrives. [3]

  8. Use teach-back

    Ask the patient or family member to show how they would use the spray. [4]

Common errors

Practice it in VMS

In VMS you do this on the patient, not on paper: every step goes on the checklist with a score, and in Teach mode Blocky tells you what comes next.

VMS cases that train this skill

10 VMS cases train this skill: open the case library

Sources

  1. Open RN, Nursing Pharmacology 2e (CC BY 4.0)
  2. NASEMSO National Model EMS Clinical Guidelines
  3. AHA Guidelines for CPR and ECC
  4. AHRQ Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit (Teach-Back)
  5. AAMC Core Entrustable Professional Activities (Core EPAs)

Facts and steps follow AAMC Core Entrustable Professional Activities (Core EPAs); AHRQ Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit (Teach-Back). VMS is not affiliated with these organizations. Updated: 2026-10-11.