USU Extension offers naloxone training as tool in fight against opioid-related deaths
Utah State University’s extension has been providing on-site naloxone training for communities across Utah, aiming to combat the opioid epidemic.
Run by Aaron Hunt and Gabriela Murza, this training contains instructions on how to administer naloxone, also known as Narcan, how to recognize overdose and why opioids are so dangerous and addictive.
“Our three goals are just increasing knowledge and understanding of how to respond correctly using Narcan, which can reverse opioid overdoses,” Hunt said. “Two is to educate people on harm reduction strategies, and then three is trying to reduce stigma because that’s a huge barrier for people getting into treatment and recovery.”
The 40-minute free training session is designed to be comprehensive without being too overwhelming for college students, service industry workers and members of injury-prone workforces. Attendees receive a Narcan kit and wallet card, giving them all the resources they need to respond to an overdose before medical professionals step in.
“We’re reaching an audience that some health departments or some other agencies are not able to reach,” Murza said. “We’re working with certain industry employees. We started working with college students and we’re branched out to include some of those labor jobs, like construction and mining.”
Even though the training is designed for specific groups, anyone can attend.
“We don’t say no,” Hunt said. “We’re trying to get this out as far and wide as possible.”
According to Hunt and Murza, overdose training is an important way to combat opioid deaths. Hunt said there’s roughly one overdose each day in Cache Valley, with a majority attributed to overusing prescription medications.
“It’s not only about thinking of strangers that you’re helping, but also if you have anybody in your family who had surgery or they have a prescription opioid, this is something that can happen at home too,” Murza said. “The majority of opioid overdose deaths are related to prescription opioids.”
While many opioid deaths are due to prescription overdoses, street drugs laced with fentanyl have caused issues as well.
“Right now, we’re seeing fentanyl laced into kind of everything,” Hunt said. “Fentanyl is 50 to 100 times stronger than heroin, so there’s this super high risk that people are going to overdose, and it’s good to add this Narcan to your first aid kit.”
Narcan can seem intimidating to carry around, but Hunt said it is a tool important for saving lives.
“You can’t be prepared for anything like this. It’s always going to be scary,” Hunt said. “We obviously want to save people’s lives and give them a chance to get into treatment. It’s similar to band-aids or tourniquets or just being able to do CPR. Everyone should know how to do it nowadays because opioids are super deadly, and they’re everywhere.”
Troy Whiting, owner and manager of ABG’s Bar in Provo, attended the training and had his employees attend due to an unfortunate overdose occasion at his business. He said he scheduled training with USU’s extension after he realized the vitality of combating this epidemic.
“It was easy. It was very comprehensive,” Whiting said. “It made me more confident in my abilities to recognize what’s happening. It’s very helpful — it helps me be a better member of the community.”
According to Hunt, the training gave an overview of opioids and their effects, along with the main opioids used. He said these drugs are depressants and stop people from breathing when they take too much. The training focused on recognizing an overdose and the steps involved in getting that person help.
“We focus on signs and symptoms of opioid overdose so that you can recognize it in someone and then the steps to responding to an opioid overdose using Narcan,” Hunt said.
“That includes checking on the person and seeing if they’re breathing. If not, you can assume they might have overdosed, give them Narcan, call 911 and then start chest compression-only CPR.”
Hunt said chest-compression CPR started after the coronavirus when less use of mouth-to-mouth CPR was advised. He said one dose of Narcan might not be enough to combat a serious amount of fentanyl.
“We make sure they know to give them two doses and how to do the chest compressions,” Hunt said. “The other big thing is really reminding them to get the person to go with the ambulance because Narcan lasts about 30-60 minutes, and the opioids in their system can last about six hours.”
Hunt said if people choose not to go with emergency medical services, they could re-overdose and die later.
Hunt added the importance of understanding the Good Samaritan law, especially for college students.
“Let’s say we’re all at a party, we’re all doing drugs together when one of us overdoses,” Hunt said. “People would be really hesitant to call 911 because it’d be like, ‘Oh, we’re going to get in trouble because we’re all doing drugs together, right?’ But the Good Samaritan law protects you from possession of drugs and using drugs. You won’t get in trouble for that, so you should always call 911.”
Hunt said the rule doesn’t apply to drug dealers or people on probation or parole. He said college students should not experiment with street drugs, especially now, due to the increasing risk of them being laced with fentanyl.
“It’s not super safe to experiment with drugs nowadays, especially drugs you don’t get from a pharmacy,” Hunt said. “If you get these from a drug dealer or online or, you know, anywhere, you don’t really know where they come from — chances are it has fentanyl in it.”
Hunt said if college students want, they should try to carry Narcan.
“This is another reason to understand what Narcan is and how to use it, because some of your classmates might be on opioids, taking fake Adderall or any of this,” Hunt said. “It’s always good to have Narcan at parties even if you don’t use drugs yourself. Someone at these parties might be using drugs, and you could potentially save someone’s life.”
Those interested in learning more about these trainings can visit extension.usu.edu/heart/service-industry-naloxone-trainings for more information.