Naloxone, an overdose reversal medicine, is available in multiple places across campus including an upcoming vending machine. Credit: Denis Poroy via TNS

Aug. 31 is International Overdose Awareness Day, and many at Ohio State are working to prepare students for unexpected situations.

Tara Crawford — the community engagement organizer in Franklin County for the HEALing Communities Study, which aims to reduce opioid overdose deaths across multiple states — is working to spread awareness through events and training across campus. Starting Aug. 31 and carrying on, students will be able to learn more about lifesaving care and recovery around overdoses.

“Our goal is to just let people know that naloxone is available, it’s safe to administer and just basically how to get it and how to use it, just in case, because fentanyl is finding its way into lots of other kinds of drugs,” Crawford said.

Crawford said a major concern with students using recreational drugs is that they can be laced with fentanyl, and if the user has no tolerance for the opioid, it can be deadly. 

Crawford’s team is currently working on installing a vending machine for naloxone, a medicine that can quickly reverse an opioid overdose. She said they are hoping to have it installed by early September, but in the meantime, “NaloxBoxes” are available for emergency use around campus, which were installed in conjunction with The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and the Alcohol, Drug, and Mental Health Board of Franklin County. 

A full list of the “NaloxBox” locations across campus can be found on the Safe and Healthy Buckeyes website.

Crawford said the vending machine will include other harm reduction items for free in addition to naloxone and was made possible by the HEALing Communities Study and the College of Medicine Departments of Emergency Medicine and Pharmacy. 

Crawford said one of the reasons college students were selected was a fatal overdose that occurred at Ohio State last May.

“I think there’s a small amount of awareness about the presence [of opiates], but I don’t think people know about carrying naloxone as a means of protecting other people’s lives,” Crawford said.

The university’s student wellness team is offering two events, #Weseeyou: Let’s Give a Hand!, and “Carry Naloxone. Save a Life” on Aug. 31, as well as several other events Sept. 1- Sept. 8. The first event is meant to inform Ohio State’s community about Overdose Awareness Day and the second provides training on the signs of an opioid overdose. 

Additional events include “Celebrate Recovery with Buckeye Paws” on Tuesday, Sept. 5, and “OUAB Wellness Wednesday – Recovery is Spoken Here: Recovery Ally Training” on Wednesday, Sept. 6. 

While the first “Carry Naloxone. Save a Life” training session is Aug. 31, five more sessions will be offered this fall. 

“We want people to know that [naloxone] is out there and you know, a neighbor might need it,” Crawford said.

 

This story was updated on Tuesday at 2:37 p.m. to include a more accurate description of the “Naloxboxes” around campus.