If you or a friend start to feel strange or more drunk than you should be, then get help straight away. If you think a friend has been spiked you can:
- If in a bar, tell a bar manager, staff on the door or another member of staff - People who feel unsafe, vulnerable or threatened can discreetly seek help by approaching venue staff and asking them for ‘Angela’. This code-phrase will indicate to staff that they require help with their situation and a trained member of staff will then look to support and assist them. This might be through reuniting them with a friend, seeing them to a taxi, or by calling venue security and/or the police.
- Stay with the person who has been spiked and keep talking to them
- Call an ambulance if their condition deteriorates
- Don’t let them go home on their own
- Don’t let them leave with someone you don’t know or trust
- Don’t let them drink more alcohol
If you start to feel strange, sick or drunk when you know that you couldn’t be drunk, seek help from a trusted friend or staff member. If you think you’ve been spiked:
- Get a close friend to take you home or to the hospital (if seriously unwell). Alternatively, ring a friend, relative or partner and ask them to come and pick you up.
- If you feel unsafe, vulnerable or threatened you can ask for help from staff or ask for “Angela”. Many hospitality venues, including the Salford student bar Atmosphere, use this code word, which indicates that you need help and a trained member of staff will then help you.
- Make sure you can trust the person you ask for help. Don’t go anywhere with a stranger or acquaintance.
- Once you are safely home, ask someone to stay with you until the effects of the drug have worn off, which could take several hours
More specific information for our on-campus bar, Atmosphere, can be found on the Students’ Union website.
If you or someone else is in immediate danger or is seriously injured, call 999 and ask for the appropriate responders. If on campus, you can also contact on-campus security or use the SafeZone App to raise an emergency alert.