White and pink Narcan boxes have cropped up across Slippery Rock University’s campus to help prevent fatal opioid overdoses at the state university.
Over 300 drug kits are being installed at high-traffic campus locations, including every residence hall. The Pennsylvania Overdose Prevention Program donated the kits to the university.
The ultimate goal is to reduce harm, said Lizzy Kline, Slippery Rock’s health promotion coordinator.
"If people are suspected of an opioid overdose, Narcan is the most effective way to revive them,” Ms. Kline said in a news release. “If you are afflicted by drug addiction or if you unknowingly take a drug that's laced with fentanyl, the punishment should not be death. That's why it is so important to have these kits readily available in case of an emergency."
Narcan is the brand name of naloxone, a drug that, when provided in time, can reverse an overdose from opioids like heroin, fentanyl and prescription opioid medications. The drug is dispensed through a nasal spray. The Food and Drug Administration approved Narcan for over-the-counter marketing and sales in March.
Slippery Rock joins a growing number of universities across the country that are now providing naloxone to their communities.
At the state university, students, faculty and staff will find Narcan kits in wall-mounted, clear bins at 24 locations on campus. These kits include gloves and instructions for administering the drug.
Signs of an overdose include unresponsiveness, respiratory failure and small pupils. If a Slippery Rock community member suspects that someone is overdosing, they should administer Narcan and call 9-1-1.
“If you're not a trained medical professional, you should not take on the responsibility of monitoring someone as they are rebounding from an overdose,” Kris Benkeser, Slippery Rock’s director of Student Health Services, said in a news release. “But providing Narcan could be the difference between life and death."
The introduction of the Narcan kits comes as opioid deaths skyrocket nationwide. Last year, a record 109,680 people died from drug deaths in the United States, according to the preliminary numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
And in 2021, over 5,400 Pennsylvanians died from drug overdoses.
Jordan Scott, a field organizer with the Pennsylvania Harm Reduction Network, believes it’s important that universities like Slippery Rock offer naloxone on their campuses. She thinks that naloxone “needs to be everywhere” — including colleges and K-12 schools.
“I think it's important for every school, but especially colleges, to have naloxone readily available everywhere on campus,” Ms. Scott said. “...With the current drug supply being so unstable and adulterated, it really makes it even more pressing for campuses to have this available.”
First Published: November 7, 2023, 10:30 a.m.
Updated: November 7, 2023, 4:50 p.m.