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O P I O I D By: Laura Toerner
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UC Nursing students, faculty and staff prepared in late spring to take on one of the worst public health disasters in United States history. About 50 people volunteered to participate in a training TRAINED offered by the college in partnership with Hamilton County Public Health and Harm Reduction Ohio on the signs that a person is experiencing an opioid overdose and how to administer six brands of the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone, including Narcan. The county’s public health department also provided participants with Narcan nasal spray and fentanyl test strips. “Overdose deaths continue to rise across the country and in Ohio. We need people to carry naloxone and be prepared to use it in case of an emergency because anyone can save a life with naloxone,” says Tasha Turner-Bicknell, DNP, RN, CPH, who co-led the training and serves as director of UC’s Public Health Nursing Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) and post-bachelor’s certificate programs. Drug overdose deaths skyrocketed across the U.S. in 2021, increasing CRISIS 30% over the previous year, driven by synthetic opioids like illegally made fentanyl, which are highly potent and hard to detect without a test. Fentanyl has made its
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way into stimulants like cocaine, crack cocaine, meth and counterfeit Xanax, oxycodone and Adderall. That is why, Turner-Bicknell says, even people who use stimulants should know they could experience an opioid overdose. She shared that drug overdose deaths from the opioid heroin have declined during the past decade as methamphetamines and cocaine deaths have spiked. In 2021, only 180 deaths in Ohio were attributed to heroin, compared to 2,750 from cocaine and meth. To make matters worse, an animal tranquilizer called xylazine has been increasingly found in combination with fentanyl and linked to overdose deaths across the nation. In response to the increase in drug overdose deaths, the ACT NOW U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Narcan nasal spray for sale over the counter, meaning people can purchase naloxone without a prescription. Turner-Bicknell says many people who use drugs cannot afford to purchase Narcan, but others around them can now more easily access it. “You never know who’s using drugs or when someone could overdose in your home or in a restaurant,” she says. “I keep one in my car and on my person. I’ve used mine in a bar.” Ben Greenwell, a fourth-year UC Bachelor of Science in Nursing
