Darius Adel ‘24
Staff Editor
I had the pleasure of attending the Narcan training event at the Law School last week. The staff from the Virginia Department of Health did a great job. Seeing so many other students spend their valuable time on a Friday afternoon sitting through Narcan instruction was pretty moving. I’ve lost more than a few friends to opioid addiction. The training session brought up a lot of those old memories.
The staff started by giving a short overview of Narcan and what it’s used for. Narcan temporarily treats those who are experiencing an opioid overdose. It literally blocks the opioid receptors in your brain and stops the drug from taking effect for about thirty minutes. During that time, you’ll want to monitor their vitals, call 911, lay them on their side, and apply a second dose if needed.
The best part of the training was that we all received two doses of Narcan. Curiosity had me wanting to try a dose, but, without opioids in my system, I doubt it would do anything besides make me sneeze. Sadly, heroin isn’t my thing.
Seeing so many of my classmates take the time to sit through and learn about this life-saving medicine made me feel positive about the future. Overdoses kill because users are either alone, or because no one around knows how to help. The more people who know how to deal with overdoses, the more lives that will be saved. It’s that simple.
The whole event was strangely emotional for me. Before it, I already had a working knowledge of Narcan. On a few occasions, I even got to apply those skills to help those experiencing a life-threatening overdose. Some have been friends and others total strangers. I had heard that helping a stranger through an overdose is easier because you can work unemotionally. For me, that was not true at all. At the end of the day, that’s still a person in front of you, and that person might die if they don’t get proper help.
Learning to properly apply Narcan is pretty easy. Honestly, even without the training, you could probably just read the directions on the packaging and apply it correctly. The Department of Health staff gave us a ton of detailed guidance. But, basically, you just stick the applicator deep up the person’s nose and spray that puppy in there. After you apply the spray, you want to back off quickly because that person just went from having the best/worst high of their life to a sudden withdrawal. They might flail around, or be pissed at you, or throw up. It’s really a mixed bag with these sorts of things.
My sincere wish is that more people learn about the effects of opioid overdose and how to counteract it. Many of the people I applied Narcan to were unhoused, but they are far from the only ones who use opioids. Just because we are in the UVA Law bubble doesn’t mean that overdoses aren’t a problem. Many of our friends and classmates deal with drug addiction, and the stressful environment we’ve put ourselves in does nothing to help.
If you are interested in learning more about Narcan or want to get some for yourself, you can go to the local Virginia Department of Health building at 1138 Rose Hill Dr., Charlottesville, VA 22903, and they will hook you up.Keep a dose at your desk at home or in your locker. Better yet, bring it to parties! Trust me, you’ll look way cooler than the kid with the half-empty box of White Claws.
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dsa7st@virginia.edu