Substance use help: do this now

Your plan

4 steps, in the order that works. Select any step for the full instructions.

1. Do this first. Overdose now: call 911 and give naloxone. More info.Do firstOverdose now: call 911 and give naloxoneMore info
2. Do this first. Get naloxone before you need it. More info.Do firstGet naloxone before you need itMore info
3. Do this first. Do not use alone. More info.Do firstDo not use aloneMore info
4. Step1Step 1 of 4. Get harm-reduction supplies. More info.Get harm-reduction suppliesMore info
5. Step2Step 2 of 4. Plan for lower tolerance. More info.Plan for lower toleranceMore info
6. Step3Step 3 of 4. Search current treatment openings. More info.Search current treatment openingsMore info
7. Step4Step 4 of 4. Confirm county-serving intake and follow-up. More info.Confirm county-serving intake and follow-upMore info

This is the ordered plan for Substance-Use Help or Harm-Reduction. Each step links to its full instructions further down this page.

Each step in full

The same steps as the plan above, with the instructions for each one.

1. Do firstOverdose now: call 911 and give naloxone

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   Call 911, use naloxone if available according to its instructions, and stay with the person until emergency help arrives.

   • KRS 218A.133 requires good-faith medical assistance, remaining with the person until assistance is provided, and evidence obtained because of the overdose and need for help. It excludes other crimes and defines exceptions involving warrants or a lawful search; this guide makes no case-specific legal determination.
   • Kentucky's Office of Drug Control Policy publishes that statute as the answer to the fear of arrest that stops some witnesses calling.
   • Naloxone reverses opioid overdose. CDC warns that other drugs may contain fentanyl; do not use a suspected drug name to decide against emergency help or available naloxone.
   • Get medical help as soon as possible after giving it — the effects of naloxone do not last long.

   Ways to get help for this step

   • 911 — immediate danger or a medical emergency

     A suspected overdose, anywhere. Stay with the person until help arrives.

     Call 911
   • Kentucky ODCP — calling for help during an overdose

     Kentucky's explanation of the statute for witnesses afraid to call. It is not legal advice about a particular situation.

     Open official route →

   Limits and what to confirm

   • Statutory conditions and exceptions apply; this is not blanket immunity. Call emergency help promptly and remain until assistance is provided.
   • Follow product instructions and the emergency dispatcher. Naloxone access, price and stock at a particular venue must be confirmed; a pharmacy route is not a universal free supply.
   • The limits of that statutory protection in any particular situation. It is a statute, not legal advice, and No One Left Outside has not verified how it applies to a specific set of facts.
   Why this step is here+

   First and unnumbered. Nothing else on this page applies while somebody is not breathing.

   What was checked, and what is still unknown (3)+

   Official sources checked (3)

   • Kentucky General Assembly·218A.133 Exemption from prosecution for possession of controlled substance or drug paraphernalia if seeking assistance with drug overdose.
     Establishes: KRS 218A.133 limits qualifying prosecution where overdose medical assistance is sought in good faith, the person remains until help is provided and evidence arises from the overdose/need for help. It excludes other crimes and defines warrant/lawful-search exceptions; the guide makes no case-specific legal determination.
     Practical limit: Statutory conditions and exceptions apply; this is not blanket immunity. Call emergency help promptly and remain until assistance is provided.
     Checked on 2026-09-30
   • Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy·Stop Overdoses
     Establishes: Kentucky's Office of Drug Control Policy publishes KRS 218A.133 as the law that protects people from prosecution when they report a drug overdose, and says fear of arrest is why some witnesses do not call.
     Checked on 2026-09-07
   • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention·5 Things to Know About Naloxone
     Establishes: CDC advises emergency help and naloxone when an overdose is suspected; other drugs may contain fentanyl. Cost varies by source and coverage, and local health departments may identify no-cost or reduced-cost community programs.
     Practical limit: Follow product instructions and the emergency dispatcher. Naloxone access, price and stock at a particular venue must be confirmed; a pharmacy route is not a universal free supply.
     Checked on 2026-09-30

   Still unknown

   • •The limits of that statutory protection in any particular situation. It is a statute, not legal advice, and No One Left Outside has not verified how it applies to a specific set of facts.
   Back to your plan

2. Do firstGet naloxone before you need it

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   A certified Kentucky pharmacist can dispense it under the statewide physician protocol.

   • Kentucky's statewide physician protocol lets a pharmacist certified by the Kentucky Board of Pharmacy initiate dispensing of opioid antagonists. Eligible candidates named in the protocol include a person with a suspected history of substance use or non-medical opioid use, and a person with a history of receiving medical care for acute opioid poisoning or overdose.
   • The protocol is renewed annually; the copy read for this page was signed on 24 June 2026.
   • Ask the pharmacist for product training, the price and what your exact coverage pays. CDC says cost varies; local health departments may identify no-cost or reduced-cost community programs. No particular pharmacy's stock or free supply is established.
   • Getting it for somebody else is the point of the protocol, not a workaround of it.

   Ways to get help for this step

   • Your local health department — Kentucky county directory

     Ask the department serving your county whether it offers no-cost or reduced-cost naloxone and when. Supply is not confirmed here.

     Open official route →
   • Find Help Now KY listings — statewide leads

     Statewide listings include naloxone organisations. A listing is a lead, not proof of current supply.

     Open official route →

   Limits and what to confirm

   • Follow product instructions and the emergency dispatcher. Naloxone access, price and stock at a particular venue must be confirmed; a pharmacy route is not a universal free supply.
   • Services are local and site-specific. The page does not establish every county has a program or current supplies, hours or access conditions.
   • Which pharmacies near you participate, what any one of them charges, and what your own coverage pays. No One Left Outside confirms none of those.
   Why this step is here+

   Also unnumbered, because the moment it is needed is not a moment you can shop in.

   What was checked, and what is still unknown (3)+

   Official sources checked (3)

   • Kentucky Department for Public Health·Kentucky Statewide Physician Protocol to Initiate Dispensing of Opioid Antagonists for Opioid Overdose Prevention and Response
     Establishes: Kentucky's statewide physician protocol lets a pharmacist certified by the Kentucky Board of Pharmacy initiate dispensing of opioid antagonists; eligible candidates include a person with a suspected history of substance use or non-medical opioid use, and a person with a history of receiving medical care for acute opioid poisoning or overdose. The protocol is renewed annually and the copy read was signed 24 June 2026.
     Checked on 2026-10-08
   • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention·5 Things to Know About Naloxone
     Establishes: CDC advises emergency help and naloxone when an overdose is suspected; other drugs may contain fentanyl. Cost varies by source and coverage, and local health departments may identify no-cost or reduced-cost community programs.
     Practical limit: Follow product instructions and the emergency dispatcher. Naloxone access, price and stock at a particular venue must be confirmed; a pharmacy route is not a universal free supply.
     Checked on 2026-09-30
   • Kentucky Department for Public Health·Harm Reduction Service Programs
     Establishes: KDPH publishes a local-health-department harm-reduction services dashboard, needle/syringe access through participating programs, naloxone education and the pharmacist standing-order route.
     Practical limit: Services are local and site-specific. The page does not establish every county has a program or current supplies, hours or access conditions.
     Checked on 2026-09-30

   Still unknown

   • •Which pharmacies near you participate, what any one of them charges, and what your own coverage pays. No One Left Outside confirms none of those.
   Back to your plan

3. Do firstDo not use alone

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   An operator stays on the line and calls EMS to your location if you stop responding.

   • Never Use Alone publishes 800-484-3731 and 877-696-1996, staffed 24 hours a day every day of the year.
   • You give your exact location and the number you are calling from. If you stop responding for more than 30 seconds, the operator alerts EMS to an unresponsive person at that location.
   • Its own contact page says an overdose already in progress goes to 911, and a mental-health crisis goes to 988.

   Ways to get help for this step

   • Never Use Alone overdose prevention line — national

     Give your exact location and callback number. An overdose already in progress goes to 911; a mental-health crisis goes to 988.

     Call 800-484-3731

   Limits and what to confirm

   • Wait times and operator availability at any given hour. No One Left Outside does not operate or monitor the line.
   Why this step is here+

   The third of the three, because it is the one that turns using alone into something survivable rather than something nobody finds out about.

   What was checked, and what is still unknown (1)+

   Official sources checked (1)

   • Never Use Alone·Never Use Alone: Home
     Establishes: Never Use Alone publishes 800-484-3731 and 877-696-1996 as its national overdose prevention line, staffed 24 hours a day every day; an operator takes the caller's exact location and alerts EMS to an unresponsive person at that location if the caller stops responding for more than 30 seconds.
     Checked on 2026-10-08

   Still unknown

   • •Wait times and operator availability at any given hour. No One Left Outside does not operate or monitor the line.
   Back to your plan

4. Step 1Get harm-reduction supplies of 4

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   Syringe services and supplies through your local health department.

   • Ask the local health department directly what it currently offers and when.
   • Use Kentucky's harm-reduction services page and county health-department directory to ask about participating syringe services, naloxone or drug-checking supplies. Not every county or site offers the same services.
   • Using this step does not require any decision about treatment.

   Move on when: you know what your local health department offers and when it is open.

   Ways to get help for this step

   • Kentucky local health department directory

     Choose the department serving your county and confirm the specific harm-reduction service before travelling.

     Open official route →
   • Kentucky harm-reduction service routes
     Open official route →

   Limits and what to confirm

   • Services are local and site-specific. The page does not establish every county has a program or current supplies, hours or access conditions.
   • Use the department serving your county; confirm the particular program, intake, documents, language/accessibility support and current hours directly.
   • What any Kentucky health department currently offers, and its hours. No One Left Outside does not confirm local harm-reduction services.
   Why this step is here+

   Supplies and overdose prevention can proceed alongside treatment navigation; they do not require a treatment decision.

   What was checked, and what is still unknown (2)+

   Official sources checked (2)

   • Kentucky Department for Public Health·Harm Reduction Service Programs
     Establishes: KDPH publishes a local-health-department harm-reduction services dashboard, needle/syringe access through participating programs, naloxone education and the pharmacist standing-order route.
     Practical limit: Services are local and site-specific. The page does not establish every county has a program or current supplies, hours or access conditions.
     Checked on 2026-09-30
   • Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services·Local Health Departments
     Establishes: CHFS lists county and multi-county local health department contacts and links the hours-of-operation document.
     Practical limit: Use the department serving your county; confirm the particular program, intake, documents, language/accessibility support and current hours directly.
     Checked on 2026-09-30

   Still unknown

   • •What any Kentucky health department currently offers, and its hours. No One Left Outside does not confirm local harm-reduction services.
   Back to your plan

5. Step 2Plan for lower tolerance of 4

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   After any break from using, the amount that was survivable before may not be now.

   • SAMHSA lists people who have had a period of abstinence as candidates for opioid overdose reversal medication.
   • It names people who have had a period of abstinence as candidates for opioid overdose reversal medication. That is this step's whole point: have naloxone, specifically now.
   • Ask a qualified treatment or harm-reduction professional about overdose prevention after a break; this guide cannot calculate a safe amount or direct medication or withdrawal care.
   • Tell one person what you are doing and where you are, or call an overdose prevention line.

   Move on when: naloxone is within reach and somebody knows where you are.

   Ways to get help for this step

   • Your local health department — Kentucky county directory

     Ask the department serving your county about naloxone now, before using again.

     Open official route →
   • Never Use Alone overdose prevention line — national

     Never Use Alone says: “One of our volunteer operators will take your location information, and alert EMS to that location if you stop responding after using.”

     Call 800-484-3731

   Limits and what to confirm

   • Use the department serving your county; confirm the particular program, intake, documents, language/accessibility support and current hours directly.
   • How much anybody's tolerance has changed. Nobody can measure that, which is why the advice is to assume it dropped.
   Why this step is here+

   Promoted to the front the moment somebody says they have had a break, because that is exactly when the risk is highest and least obvious.

   What was checked, and what is still unknown (2)+

   Official sources checked (2)

   • U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration·Opioid Overdose Reversal Medications (OORM)
     Establishes: SAMHSA names people who have had a period of abstinence as candidates for opioid overdose reversal medication.
     Checked on 2026-10-08
   • Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services·Local Health Departments
     Establishes: CHFS lists county and multi-county local health department contacts and links the hours-of-operation document.
     Practical limit: Use the department serving your county; confirm the particular program, intake, documents, language/accessibility support and current hours directly.
     Checked on 2026-09-30

   Still unknown

   • •How much anybody's tolerance has changed. Nobody can measure that, which is why the advice is to assume it dropped.
   Back to your plan

6. Step 3Search current treatment openings of 4

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   Use treatment listings as leads, then confirm the actual intake; use KY HELP if online access is unavailable.

   • Kentucky's current harm-reduction page links Find Help Now KY. The retrieved search page has older plan and contact information, so no listed opening or plan acceptance is treated as currently confirmed here.
   • For an offline or unanswered-search fallback, call KY HELP at 1-833-859-4357 (weekdays 7 a.m.–10 p.m. Eastern; weekends 8:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.). Operation UNITE publishes 1-800-854-6813 for after-hours assistance. Use 988 for crisis support and 911 for a medical emergency.
   • Call to confirm before travelling. An opening listed this morning is not a bed this afternoon.
   • Its own page directs a crisis to 988 rather than to a treatment search.

   Move on when: you have a named place that says it has space, and you have confirmed it by phone.

   Ways to get help for this step

   • KY HELP statewide screening and referral

     Tell the specialist your county, safe contact method and barriers. A referral does not confirm admission or payment.

     Call 1-833-859-4357
   • State-linked Find Help Now KY search

     Treat listings as leads and confirm the exact current plan, population and intake with the provider.

     Open official route →

   Limits and what to confirm

   • The provider page differentiates the current7am weekday start from a historical2021 segment saying8:30am. A referral does not establish cost, eligibility, admission, treatment placement or transport.
   • Services are local and site-specific. The page does not establish every county has a program or current supplies, hours or access conditions.
   • Whether any listed opening is still open, who it accepts, and what it costs. Confirm each directly.
   Why this step is here+

   First of the numbered steps when treatment is what somebody wants, because the search is what turns a decision into an appointment.

   What was checked, and what is still unknown (2)+

   Official sources checked (2)

   • Operation UNITE·KYHELP Statewide Call Center
     Establishes: Operation UNITE publishes statewide substance-use screening/referral at8338594357, Monday–Friday7am–10pm Eastern and weekends8:30am–5:30pm, with8008546813 for after-hours assistance.
     Practical limit: The provider page differentiates the current7am weekday start from a historical2021 segment saying8:30am. A referral does not establish cost, eligibility, admission, treatment placement or transport.
     Checked on 2026-09-30
   • Kentucky Department for Public Health·Harm Reduction Service Programs
     Establishes: KDPH publishes a local-health-department harm-reduction services dashboard, needle/syringe access through participating programs, naloxone education and the pharmacist standing-order route.
     Practical limit: Services are local and site-specific. The page does not establish every county has a program or current supplies, hours or access conditions.
     Checked on 2026-09-30

   Still unknown

   • •Whether any listed opening is still open, who it accepts, and what it costs. Confirm each directly.
   Back to your plan

7. Step 4Confirm county-serving intake and follow-up of 4

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   Contact the regional community mental health center serving your county or the treatment service named by KY HELP.

   • Use Kentucky's county mental-health directory; Seven Counties serves a region and is not the statewide intake route. Confirm any conflicting county entry with the center.
   • Ask about the right level of care, your exact coverage or uninsured cost, documents needed to begin, medication continuity, accessibility or interpreter help, travel and a safe callback route. None is established until the receiving service answers.
   • If intake is denied or unanswered, record the reason or attempt and ask KY HELP for another county-serving service. With no phone or internet, ask a trusted helper or accessible public-service desk to help contact the service privately. Keep urgent medical or crisis help separate from this appointment work.
   • Choose a safe contact method, name who owns the next action, and write down when to check again.
   • Keep a safe copy or reference number for each notice, submission, referral, and instruction so the work can resume without starting over.

   Move on when: you know what the intake step is and when it happens.

   Ways to get help for this step

   • Kentucky county mental-health contacts
     Open official route →

   Limits and what to confirm

   • Choose by county, not provider office location. Ask the receiving center about service area, intake, coverage or cost, accessibility and current availability.
   • The directory has a conflicting Gallatin entry. Confirm the regional assignment with the center; 988 remains a statewide crisis route. A listed contact does not confirm a bed, appointment or mobile response.
   • The provider page differentiates the current7am weekday start from a historical2021 segment saying8:30am. A referral does not establish cost, eligibility, admission, treatment placement or transport.
   • Wait times, what any intake will decide, and what any particular programme costs.
   Why this step is here+

   After the search, because the search tells you whether there is anywhere to be referred to.

   What was checked, and what is still unknown (3)+

   Official sources checked (3)

   • Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services·Community Mental Health Centers
     Establishes: Kentucky describes fourteen regional mental-health/intellectual-disability boards serving multi-county regions and links a county contact directory.
     Practical limit: Choose by county, not provider office location. Ask the receiving center about service area, intake, coverage or cost, accessibility and current availability.
     Checked on 2026-09-30
   • Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services·CMHCs and psychiatric hospitals alphabetically by county
     Establishes: The official directory lists county-specific regional contacts and crisis lines, directs immediate life-threatening emergencies to 911 and offers 988 as a crisis option.
     Practical limit: The directory has a conflicting Gallatin entry. Confirm the regional assignment with the center; 988 remains a statewide crisis route. A listed contact does not confirm a bed, appointment or mobile response.
     Checked on 2026-09-30
   • Operation UNITE·KYHELP Statewide Call Center
     Establishes: Operation UNITE publishes statewide substance-use screening/referral at8338594357, Monday–Friday7am–10pm Eastern and weekends8:30am–5:30pm, with8008546813 for after-hours assistance.
     Practical limit: The provider page differentiates the current7am weekday start from a historical2021 segment saying8:30am. A referral does not establish cost, eligibility, admission, treatment placement or transport.
     Checked on 2026-09-30

   Still unknown

   • •Wait times, what any intake will decide, and what any particular programme costs.
   Back to your plan

What No One Left Outside cannot promise

• No One Left Outside does not decide eligibility.
• No One Left Outside does not submit applications, renewals, appeals, or documents.
• No One Left Outside cannot guarantee approval, a timeline, an appointment, or a fee waiver.
• No One Left Outside is not a legal or benefits advisor.
• No One Left Outside is not affiliated with any agency named on a journey page.
• This guide does not make a legal, medical, safety, eligibility, or discharge decision.
• A search result does not confirm funding, capacity, acceptance, or availability.

Related resources

These are directory leads, not endorsements or proof of eligibility. Confidential addresses are never shown in this strip.

What requires an agency or provider

• Overdose response, withdrawal risk, diagnosis, medication, and clinical treatment decisions
• Program admission, capacity, cost, coverage, medication approach, and discharge
• Louisville harm-reduction, treatment, housing, transportation, accessibility, and follow-up practices