| Course | MSW 535 Drugs and Addictive Behaviors |
|---|---|
| Week | 4 |
| Paper type | Overdose response brief |
| Length | About 430 words, 4 pages |
| Format | Memo with APA 7 citations |
| School | Chamberlain University |
| Program | Master of Social Work (MSW) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MSW 535 Week 4
Memorandum
To: Front desk and outreach staff, county harm reduction program
From: MSW student intern
Date: October 13, 2026
Re: Responding to a suspected overdose: what to look for and what to do first
Who Is Holding This Page
Front desk staff and outreach workers. You are not medical staff. You will often be first to a person in trouble.
Signs, Sorted by Class
Opioids, including fentanyl: will not wake up when you call their name and rub their breastbone; breathing very slow, shallow or stopped; gurgling or snoring sounds; blue or gray lips and fingertips; pinpoint pupils.
Stimulants, including methamphetamine and cocaine: very agitated or confused; very hot skin; chest pain; seizure; collapse. Breathing is usually fast, not slow.
Sedatives such as benzodiazepines or alcohol: very drowsy, confused, slow to respond; breathing can slow, especially when mixed with opioids.
The Order of the First Minutes
1. Call their name and rub the breastbone hard. No response: go on.
2. Call 911. Say "someone is not breathing" or "someone is unresponsive."
3. Give naloxone: one spray in one nostril.
4. Give rescue breaths if trained: one breath every five seconds.
5. If no response in two to three minutes, give a second dose in the other nostril.
6. If they start breathing, roll them onto their side and stay until help arrives. Naloxone can wear off before fentanyl does.
In Massachusetts, towns where more residents were trained to use naloxone saw fewer opioid overdose deaths per person than towns with no training (Walley et al., 2013).
What Naloxone Does Not Touch
Naloxone reverses opioids only. It does nothing for stimulants, alcohol, benzodiazepines or xylazine, a sedative now often mixed into fentanyl. Give it anyway if you are unsure: it is safe if no opioid is present. Then keep breathing support going.
Rarely Just One Substance
Most overdoses we see involve more than one substance. A person may need naloxone and still not wake fully because of a sedative. Keep giving breaths and wait for help.
The Danger After Time Away
People who have just left jail, the hospital or treatment have lower tolerance. The risk of fatal overdose after prison release is highest in the first two weeks (Binswanger et al., 2007). When someone tells you they just got out, offer naloxone and say plainly that their old amount could kill them now.
Where Things Are
Naloxone kits: front desk drawer and every outreach bag. Breathing masks: same places. After any overdose, tell the supervisor and fill out the incident form the same day.
References
Binswanger, I. A., Stern, M. F., Deyo, R. A., Heagerty, P. J., Cheadle, A., Elmore, J. G., & Koepsell, T. D. (2007). Release from prison: A high risk of death for former inmates. New England Journal of Medicine, 356(2), 157-165. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMsa064115
Walley, A. Y., Xuan, Z., Hackman, H. H., Quinn, E., Doe-Simkins, M., Sorensen-Alawad, A., Ruiz, S., & Ozonoff, A. (2013). Opioid overdose rates and implementation of overdose education and nasal naloxone distribution in Massachusetts: Interrupted time series analysis. BMJ, 346, Article f174. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.f174
Reading the MSW 535 Week 4 instructions
The overdose response brief is short and arranged for someone reading it under pressure, not for a grader reading in order. Name who is holding the page. Give recognition as a small set of observable signs for each drug class, written as what a person standing there would see. Number the first minutes in order: checking responsiveness, calling for help, giving the antidote, supporting breathing and positioning. Say plainly what the antidote does not reverse. Note that most overdoses involve more than one substance. Include the danger after time away from use. Close with where supplies are kept and what to do afterward. Cite evidence briefly where it supports a step.
Inside the MSW 535 Week 4 example
The brief addresses front desk and outreach staff who are not medical. Signs are sorted for opioids, stimulants and sedatives, in terms of what can be seen and heard. Six numbered steps run from a breastbone rub through calling 911, one nasal dose of naloxone, rescue breaths, a second dose and the recovery position, with a note that naloxone can wear off first. Walley et al. (2013) supports training bystanders. A section lists what naloxone does not reverse, including xylazine, and says to give it when unsure. A mixed supply section explains incomplete waking. A section on release from custody cites Binswanger et al. (2007). Supply locations and incident reporting close the brief.
Where the points sit in the MSW 535 Week 4 rubric
Faculty grade the brief on whether it could be used during an emergency. A brief written as continuous prose, or one that starts with background on the opioid crisis, loses the most. Credit goes to naming the reader, signs sorted by class in observable terms, numbered first steps and a clear statement of the antidote's limits. Polysubstance use and post-release risk should be addressed. Practical details, such as where supplies are, show the brief was written for a real setting. Evidence should be cited briefly in APA. Stimulant overdose belongs in the brief, since naloxone alone will not help. Plain words matter more here than in any other assignment this term.
MSW 535 Week 4 help: mistakes that cost points
Briefs most often fail by explaining pharmacology in paragraphs that no one could read with a person on the floor. Another common gap is implying naloxone works on every overdose. Some briefs forget rescue breathing, or forget that naloxone may wear off before fentanyl. Others leave out the danger after someone leaves jail or treatment. A good test is to hand the draft to someone outside the field and time how long they take to find step three. Adapted to a different setting, perhaps a library or a shelter, the brief keeps the same parts with locations changed. Avoid abbreviations a new staff member would not know.
Get a MSW-535 Week 4 example written to your instructions
Send the Week 4 instructions with any page limit and the audience your section named, and a custom example is written to them and returned inside 24 to 48 hours, the first one free. If your classroom supplies a scenario for the brief, include it whole, because audience and setting change what belongs on the page more than the pharmacology does.
More MSW 535 papers and MSW samples
- MSW 535 Week 1: Craving Criterion Test Post
- MSW 535 Week 2: Fentanyl Substance Profile
- MSW 535 Week 3: Tolerance and Withdrawal Write-Up
- MSW 535 Week 5: Disease Model Critique
- MSW 535 Week 6: Behavioral Addiction Paper
- MSW 535 Week 7: Harm Reduction Brief
- MSW 535 Week 8: Recovery Pathway Paper
- MSW 533 Week 4: Hospice Benefit Family Brief
- MSW 532 Week 4: Surrogate Decision Memo
- MSW 531 Week 4: Elderspeak Ageism Analysis
- MSW 529 Week 4: County Service Gap Map
MSW 535 Week 4 questions, answered
Is it appropriate for coursework to describe an overdose response at all?
It is standard content in this course and in the public health literature it draws on, and describing recognition is not the same as providing care. The example stays at the level a published community brief would use, cites what it claims, and points the reader to emergency services rather than substituting for them. Where your section requires a training component, send that requirement and the example is written to it.
Should the brief cover stimulant overdose as well?
Read the instructions, because sections differ sharply. Where the assignment says overdose generally, leaving stimulants out is the gap markers notice, since the presentation is nearly opposite and there is no antidote to reach for. Where the assignment names opioids specifically, a single paragraph acknowledging that the reversal does not generalize is usually enough to show you knew the limit.
How long can a brief be before it stops being a brief?
Whatever your section caps it at, and if there is no cap, short enough to be read while standing. The genre is doing something a paper is not: it has to be usable at speed by somebody who is not thinking clearly. That constraint decides the formatting, the sentence length and what gets cut, and markers who set this genre are looking for evidence that you understood it.
Where can I find a free MSW 535 Week 4 sample paper?
This page holds a complete MSW 535 Week 4 overdose response brief for harm reduction staff, with numbered first steps and margin notes.
What does naloxone not reverse in the MSW 535 Week 4 sample?
Stimulants, alcohol, benzodiazepines and xylazine, which is why the brief says to give naloxone when unsure and keep supporting breathing until help arrives.