School Leavers

The School Leavers Program (SLP) happens every year during the traditional “leavers’ week” celebrations at the State’s key ‘hot spots’ – Rottnest, Dunsborough and Margaret RIver. The Program aims to reduce the harms school leavers cause themselves, each other, and their host community during their end of year celebrations. Mobile Street Teams and stationary “Recovery” tents provide leavers with information about staying safe, someone to talk to, non-alcoholic drinks, basic first aid, access to ambulance services and crisis counseling, and a secure environment for leavers who have had too much to be looked after and rest. The teams operate between the approximate hours of 6pm to 2am, and later if required.

The Drug ARM Leavers Team provides:

Recovery Tent
• Provides a secure, supervised place to sober up
• Information about drugs, and their effects on health and behaviour
• Completely confidential, non-judgemental personal support for drug, alcohol and
other issues and the availability of immediate access to phone counsellors.
• Water to rehydrate client
• Basic first aid, assessment of condition and if need be referral of clients to Ambulance
or St John’s.

Roving patrols
• Teams of two or more people walking through and driving around.
• Referring people to the Recovery Tent, St Johns and other services.
• Providing emotional support, and information pertinent to Leavers.
• On the spot basic first aid.

As an SLP volunteer, you will spend your on-shift time providing personal support, information and referrals to leavers and young adults, and providing basic care for people who are intoxicated Volunteers work for up to four night shifts during the leavers period.

This means you will be engaging young people in conversations – finding out about what’s going on for them, listening to them, and encouraging them to stay safe by staying with friends, spacing their drinks, eating food, and so on. You will be providing leavers with information about where services are located, how they can have a good time and stay safe, and what the police line is (how to stay out of trouble). Sometimes you may need to provide basic first aid, calm people down who are getting worked up, and spend time with people who have had a bad experience - everything from being homesick, to having an argument with a good friend, to having a terrible time after using alcohol or other substances, to being the victim of a sexual assault.

We require volunteers who are:
• Over 18 years old (mostly 19 to 25)
• Mature
• Team players
• Good listeners
• Keen to help young people stay safe
• Able to cope with working night shifts
• Willing to work within Drug ARM WA policy
• Have, or acquire, a basic first aid qualification
• Have, or agree to, a Federal Police clearance check

Leavers Dates for 2008 Volunteers

• Rottnest (3 nights): Tuesday 25th November to Friday 28th November (Arrive Tuesday afternoon, leave Friday morning)
• Dunsborough (4nights): Monday 24 th November to Friday 28th November (Arrive Monday afternoon, leave Friday morning)
• Margaret River shift 1 (3 nights): Sunday 23 rd November to Wednesday 26 th November (Arrive Sunday afternoon, leave Wednesday morning)
• Margaret River shift 2 (3 nights): Wednesday 26th November to Saturday 29th November (Arrive Wednesday afternoon, leave Saturday morning)

Training for 2008 Volunteers

• New Volunteers Training: October 25th Sat – Drug ARM WA Office Armadale OR October 20nd and October 27th Monday night – Venue to be announced
• Experienced Volunteers BBQ and briefing: November Sat 1st 12:30pm - 4:30pm. Please put this in your diary now.

You can download a volunteer application form (pdf) or volunteer application form (word - fill in electronically)

Advice for Leavers

This information is available as a PDF in our Advice for Leavers pamphlet and also available in a smaller folding form. We also reccomend you visit www.leaverswa.com.au

For the past 10 years Drug ARM WA has been at Leavers celebrations and we’ve looked after hundreds of people affected by alcohol and other drugs. We have created this pamphlet to help you have a safe and enjoyable Leavers celebration.

ALCOHOL

Alcohol is by far the biggest problem drug that the Drug ARM WA team have to deal with at Leavers .

How alcohol can affect people…

Risky behaviours

• More likely to engage in unsafe and unwanted sex or sexual activities.
• Get hurt doing activities involving heights or swimming
• Increased chance of being assaulted: verbal and physical

Social life

• Embarrassing actions or conversations whilst intoxicated

Health

• Headaches, vomiting, hangovers, nausea, shakiness, reduced sexual function and memory loss

How alcohol affects people under 18

If you are under the age of 21 your brain is still developing and alcohol can affect memory function. Unlike people over 21 they are less likely to get tired as they drink and are more susceptible to alcohol poisoning and black outs.

Sobering up quicker?

Time is the only thing that can help someone sober up. Some remedies like eating lots of bread can be dangerous. Water is good to drink as it will rehydrate your body.

Drunk or Alcohol Poisoning?

If someone...

• is unconscious, or
• has skin that is cold, clammy, pale or bluish / purplish, or
• is breathing slowly or irregularly. (More than 10 seconds between breaths), or
• vomits without waking up

Things that can affect a body’s ability to deal with Alcohol.

• You’ve been in the sun all day, have sun burn or sun stroke.
• You’re not sleeping as much as usual.
• You’ve taken other drugs. Including legal drugs like: caffeine based drinks (eg: Red Bull), prescription medications, sleeping tablets and “no doze” tablets.
• If you’re not eating as well as you normally do or are not eating as much nutritious food as you normally do.

Other good things to know...

• Alcohol has no taste. If an alcoholic drink tastes more like a soft drink than beer or wine doesn’t mean it has less alcohol. Check the side of the bottle.
• The effect of alcohol will take some time to hit a person as the alcohol moves from the stomach to the blood stream.
• Vomiting doesn’t get rid of the alcohol in your system (you would need to vomit out your brain and your blood stream).
• Standard drinks guides are good to know. However, just remember that they are designed for “standard” people. Most year 12 students are much lighter in body weight than a “standard” person and have much less experience (and therefore tolerance to alcohol) than a “standard” person.

OTHER DRUGS

Our experience at Leavers celebrations has been that illicit drugs people have are of a very poor quality. That is they do not contain what the buyer expects them to. (50% of ecstasy tablets sold in WA at any time of the year do not contain any MDMA - the active ingredient). We have found this to be especially true at Leavers even for people who have their drugs from someone they know and trust.

STAYING SAFE

Staying safe with alcohol

• Space your drinks  
• Eat food while you are drinking
• Don’t mix alcohol with other drugs
• Avoid driving, swimming and heights

Staying Safe with Illicit drugs

• It is safer not to inject drugs.
• If someone does, always use clean syringes and equipment
• Avoid combining different drugs

Above all else

• Stick with Friends
• If any bad effects are suspected, call an ambulance immediately

TOP TEN TIPS FOR LEAVERS

1. Stick with friends
2. Eat food, drink water, and space your drinks if you drink
3. Take care when you are out and about.
4. Know who’s out there. There are lots of services who are happy to help so find out who they are and what they do.
5. Don’t mix your drinks, or your substances.
6. Sleep!
7. Be nice to people especially the police. We are all there to make sure you have a safe enjoyable time
8. Keep it real - be yourself. Don’t do things that you are not comfortable with or wouldn’t normally do.
9. If someone is in trouble with alcohol or drugs call an ambulance (they will only call police if there is a death)
10. Do fun stuff!

If you would like to know more please contact Chris Summerfield via email: chris@drugarmwa.org.au or call Chris at the office (08) 9497-9498