The SUNY Oneonta campus has a new resource to prevent drug overdoses.
Off-Campus and Commuter Student Services Director Lakisha Mason spearheaded an effort to install ONEBox kits containing naloxone in the university’s 15 residence halls. The boxes were installed right around the start of the semester.
Naloxone — brand name Narcan — is a drug that reverses the effects of opioids during an overdose when administered via nasal spray.
The boxes usually are mounted onto a wall. Under a pull-down flap, the boxes provide a 60-second video in English and Spanish with step-by-step instructions, which can be replayed, describing how to administer Narcan to a person who has overdosed.
The boxes also contain personal protective equipment in case mouth-to-mouth resuscitation is needed, as well as drug testing strips for xylazine and fentanyl.
The boxes’ supplies lasts two years, and the contents are maintained by building facilities staff.
Mason, a member of Oneonta’s Community Narcan Initiative Team, said it took about seven to eight months to acquire and install the ONEBoxes, which cost $199 each. She said there are at least one boxes in every dorm, and some have more.
“This is just another step up to assist in removing some of that stigma and bringing a positive enforcement into the dorms with the Narcan,” Mason said.
In MacDuff Hall, the ONEBox was installed on the first floor next to the AED in a protective box.
MacDuff Residence Hall Director Olivia Schuler said that all campus RDs have been trained in how to administer Narcan.
“They’re not required to, but I think having as many people as possible know how to do it is really important,” she said. “The RAs could also show the residents how to do it as well. It’s an easier point of contact than contacting University Police, because they aren’t always around.”
After administering naloxone, students would call University Police to report the incident, she added.
The availability of naloxone is not new to the SUNY Oneonta campus. Last year, all RDs and student resident advisors kept naloxone in their offices on each floor.
In addition to the ONEBoxes, all RDs have naloxone available and it’s available at the campus health center if students want to carry it.
Mason has conducted Narcan training sessions for staff and students, both from her own initiative and by request.
The installation of the ONEBoxes comes as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that drug deaths have declined roughly 10.6 percent, when in recent years fatal overdoses regularly increased by double-digit percentages, as NPR reported Thursday.