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The Department of Public Health in the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics will host two Narcan and opioid training workshops during Syracuse University’s observance of National Public Health Week from April 3-9.

The workshops, hosted by the Onondaga County Health Department, the Central New York Area Health Education Center (AHEC) and Falk’s Student Association for Public Health Education, provide an overview of Narcan, a medication that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose, according to SU’s website. Attendees learn how to administer the medication and become eligible to receive a Narcan kit, the description reads.

Lisa Olson-Gugerty – an associate professor of public health and chair of the NPHW committee – compared the workshops to CPR training, saying that learning how to administer Narcan is something people can learn to do to help their fellow community members.

“It’s an aid, it’s a need in the community,” Olson-Gugerty said.

In response to increases in opioid-related overdoses in the early 2000s, New York state in April 2006 legalized Narcan (or Naloxone) in April 2006 for administration by non-medically trained people.

Dessa Bergen-Cico, an SU professor of public health who specializes in substance use and addictive behaviors, explained that Narcan temporarily stops the effect of an opioid on the user’s neurotransmitter nerve cells and central nervous system.

“It essentially blocks the action potential for the opioid at the receptor site and that restores more normal central nervous system functioning, so that can help the person to survive,” Bergen-Cico said.

After the medication is administered, the person administering the dose should wait two minutes for a response from the recipient before giving a second dose, and also observe the recipient until they are taken to the hospital or until the Narcan dose wears off after 30 to 90 minutes. Bergen-Cico emphasized that pervasive access to Narcan is important because it can provide time for the recipient to receive the emergency medical help they need to avoid rapid death.

Deaths from opioid overdoses continue to increase across New York state. Data from the Office of the New York State Comptroller shows a 68% increase in opioid overdose deaths in the state between 2019 and 2021. There have been 498 opioid overdoses reported in Onondaga County since the beginning of 2023.

Some drug users may not be aware they’ve ingested an opioid because of fentanyl contamination, Bergen-Cico said. Fentanyl, a potent opioid that can cause rapid overdose death, has increasingly been identified nationwide and globally as a contaminant of other substances like cocaine and off-market fake pills, she said.

For over a decade, Onondaga County has been experiencing an increase of opioid-related deaths involving fentanyl. In 2022, 89 of the 108 unintended opioid-related deaths were also fentanyl-related, according to an Onondaga County opioid use data report.

“Substance use does not discriminate. It can happen amongst any group of people,” said Annabelle Fears, AHEC’s director. “People use substances all the time, and not even on purpose, people end up ingesting fentanyl in some way or another.”

AHEC – a non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care access in the central New York area – is partnering with SU for the Narcan workshops through a grant from the Opioid Prevention Education Project. The grant requires AHEC to conduct formal or informal presentations and tabling sessions with high school or college students to increase awareness about the opioid epidemic, said program coordinator Grace Gugerty.

One of AHEC’s goals is to address the stigma surrounding opioid overdose. By using a harm-reduction framework, the organization does not discriminate against someone who uses drugs and instead supports initiatives to improve drug users’ lives, Gugerty said.

“The number one barrier for Narcan is stigma, and overdose deaths’ number one barrier is stigma,” Gugerty said.

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After observing health disparities in minority communities as a lifetime resident of Onondaga County, Gugerty said substance use is often perpetuated by unjust systems, and one way to combat this stigma is through Narcan training.

SU’s training workshops are conducted by Gugerty and Onondaga County Health Department’s Tyler Gilyard, who gives the kits to participants at the end of the hour-long training session. The kits include Narcan, instructions, a rescue breathing barrier and a test strip, Olsen-Gugerty said.

After informing her Dynamics of Addiction class about the training and the responsibilities that come with it, Bergen-Cico said only around a third of her students signed up. She said while she recognizes not every student will feel comfortable administering Narcan to others, it’s still important for students to learn about prevention.

“It’s helpful for people to go to the training and at least understand what it is because you never know when you’re going to encounter it,” Bergen-Cico said.

The DPH will hold its two workshops on April 4 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Falk College and on April 5 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. in Brady Market.

Published on March 28, 2023 at 11:41 pm

Contact Kendall: kaluther@syr.edu