Members of the student organization, Off the Lake, receive Narcan doses from Buckeyes for Harm Reduction after attending their Narcan training. Credit: Courtesy of Buckeyes for Harm Reduction
According to recently released results from an April 2024 study by The Ohio State Wexner Medical Center, three in four Americans don’t feel confident in their ability to respond to someone who’s overdosing.
However, education and training on naloxone — a life-saving medication used to immediately treat overdoses, also known by its brand name, Narcan — may be the answer to building that confidence.
If people are properly instructed on how to use Narcan, Ohio State could help empower on-the-spot overdose care and become a leader in solving the state’s overdose crisis, said Dr. Trent Hall, an addiction medicine physician in Ohio State’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health.
“We know naloxone works,” Hall said. “We know that this medication can rapidly reverse an overdose and save a person’s life, but it can only work if the person who is there witnessing that overdose has the medication at hand and feels confident using it.”
According to the Drug Enforcement Agency’s website, Ohio has the seventh-highest drug overdose death rate in the country. In 2020, Ohio deaths related to fentanyl increased by 32%, according to the Ohio Department of Health’s website.
Though overdoses are medical emergencies and engender natural fear, administering naloxone to someone who’s overdosing is as simple as giving a nose spray, Hall said. Additionally, if someone is given the medication and later found to be unconscious for another reason besides overdose, it won’t harm them.
“Even though this is every bit as serious as if you were to meet someone having a stroke or a heart attack, this is something you can do,” Hall said. “You can save somebody’s life in this moment very easily with this medication.”
Buckeyes for Harm Reduction — an Ohio State student organization that educates students on the prevention of harm related to drug use, policies and laws — hosts Narcan training for students, said Laura Powers, a fourth-year in public health and the organization’s vice president.
The organization aims to recognize that while an overdose situation is frightening, it’s still critical to take responsive steps, Powers said.
“The more we talk about it, the more comfortable people are going to be asking questions about how to respond and talking to people about overcoming fears or overcoming barriers to responding,” Powers said.
It is a common misconception that possessing Narcan means a person — and/or their network of friends — actively use substances that may require them to have the medication on hand, said Dana Oehme, a fourth-year in public health and president of Buckeyes for Harm Reduction.
The organization, however, encourages individuals to think beyond themselves and erase any negative connotations associated with carrying Narcan.
“Narcan is not just for your inner circle; it’s for the community,” Oehme said. “It’s for everyone you know, every person you walk past, all of the community members — both on and off campus — because you really don’t know when that unfortunate emergency overdose situation might happen.”
Today, illicitly manufactured fentanyl is the main driver of opioid overdoses, Hall said. A small dose of fentanyl, which may be disguised as or mixed with other medications and substances, can be fatal.
“This can just happen, even to folks who are not experiencing addiction, because the incredibly powerful opioid fentanyl is getting mixed into all kinds of other substances that most folks are used to,” Hall said.
Besides Narcan, fentanyl testing strips can detect the drug — which cannot be detected by taste or smell — in different substances. These strips can also help prevent an overdose, Powers said.
“Having fentanyl test strips widely available and having people understand how to use them is a huge tool in harm reduction, even beyond the use of Narcan,” Powers said.
Since Narcan is a life-saving medication, it should be widely available in public spaces in the same way defibrillators are, Hall said. As of now, Narcan can be accessed for free through the Student Wellness Center, as well as vending machines in the RPAC.
“There is only one thing, though, that all of us can do, and that’s carrying naloxone,” Hall said.
