With the ongoing opioid overdose epidemic in the U.S., the Wellness Center is taking strides to educate and protect the UCCS community.
Opioid use among the general population has been on the rise for decades and has been spiking in El Paso County since 2012 with a 580% increase of opioid deaths from 2012-2017. The CDC reports that fentanyl-related overdoses increased by 279% from 2016 to 2021 nationally. Other studies say that college culture is a breeding ground for opioid exposure, citing that opioid use, mainly through heroin, has increased drastically in the past and continues to grow.
The Wellness Center hosts opioid overdose response trainings to prevent opioid-related deaths at UCCS.
“We don’t want to lose anyone to an overdose. We hope that educating UCCS students and employees about the realities of opioid use and providing tools to respond to an overdose will help prevent these losses in our community,” said Assistant Director of Wellness Promotion Chrissie Bailey.
Director of Health Services Billie Jo Baptiste leads the training and has been advocating for opioid overdose response to the UCCS community for about a year. The trainings started as small-scale sessions but have significantly grown in attendance and interest, she said.
“We have teachers reach out to us, and we go into classes and teach it, so I think it’s gaining some traction,” Baptiste said. So far, these trainings only happen at UCCS, but Baptiste is willing to expand beyond the community if there’s a demand for it.
During the training, Baptiste details the administering of a substance called NARCAN, also known as naloxone, to unconscious individuals. NARCAN is the first FDA-approved nasal spray that can stop or reverse the effects of an opioid overdose and will not cause harm if it is administered to someone who is not overdosing on opioids. In 2023, the FDA approved a form of NARCAN as the first naloxone produced approved for over-the-counter, nonprescription use.
At the end of the training, Baptiste provides everyone in attendance with single doses of NARCAN and fentanyl testing strips. She teaches those in attendance how and when to use NARCAN and covers a more thorough procedure of what to do if students find someone unconscious or someone who they think may have undergone an opioid overdose.
NARCAN can be found in AED cabinets around campus alongside defibrillators. An Automated External Defibrillator (AED) is a compact and portable, battery-operated device used to automatically deliver measured electrical shocks to reestablish the heart’s normal rhythm. There are 32 AED cabinets on campus.
“If you’re going to grab an AED, grab the NARCAN, too,” Baptiste said, adding that knowing how to administer NARCAN should go hand in hand with knowing how to give CPR.
The Wellness Center will be hosting two more opioid overdose response trainings this semester, one on Oct. 16 and another on Nov. 6. To register for these trainings, visit the Wellness Center’s Mountain Lion Connect page.
Photo by Pharmacy Images on Unsplash.