‘If This Saves One Life on Campus, To Me That's Worth It’

Alexandria Perez ’23 calls naloxone “community care.” 

Just one dose of the medication through a Narcan nasal spray device can rapidly reverse an opioid overdose, as well as any ingested drug laced with the deadly opioid fentanyl, and save a person’s life.

So imagine what a Narcan vending machine on campus could do to bolster that kind of awareness among students, and help keep the Santa Clara community safe.  That’s the thinking behind the Narcan dispenser SCU officials will unveil on Tuesday, National Fentanyl Awareness Day, inside the lower level of Benson Memorial Center. Accessible almost 24/7, anonymously, and free of charge, Perez calls Narcan kits “the pivotal harm reduction method that allows us to meet others wherever they are,” but only if students carry it on them at all times, in the event they witness an overdose. 

As one of 500 SCU students who has attended Narcan training sessions overseen by assistant professor of public health Jamie Chang, Perez is adamant when she says that “knowing how to use Narcan can save lives”—someday, perhaps, a person she may know.  

To her and many others, it’s a no-brainer. Overdoses from fentanyl—a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin—took 5,961 California lives in 2021, many of them teens and young adults unaware of the prevalence of fentanyl-contaminated drugs. The tragedies helped drive a new law, effective Jan. 1, requiring California public colleges and community colleges to distribute free Narcan and provide training during campus orientations. 

SCU was already ahead of the curve, making kits and training available since 2020 through the Cowell Center, thanks to the teamwork of Vice Provost for Student Life Jeanne Rosenberger and Chang, a key member of the Santa Clara County Opioid Overdose Prevention Project. In partnership with the county, Chang launched the first Narcan distribution event on campus in 2019, and followed up with the vending machine proposal.

“Jamie brought the opportunity to us, and her students have been phenomenally interested in helping move the initiative forward,” says Rosenberger of the year-long process to acquire the machine, believed to be the first installed at a college or university in Santa Clara County. 

Santa Clara, Rosenberger says, “wants to be part of the education and the solution to the opioid crisis. This machine is one among many tools we can use to do our part.”

Seeing it “makes you think” 

As President of SCU’s Peer Health Educators, Ariel Perlman ’23 says Narcan kits should be like spare Band-Aids: kept with you at all times.

“At this point, I think everyone knows the danger of fentanyl, and the harm in gambling on buying drugs from strangers,” Perlman says. Yet she worries about an overlooked mental health component at play.

Experts say many U.S. college students take prescriptions for drugs like Xanax for anxiety or depression, or Adderall to help them manage attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Both medications have a high risk for abuse and addiction. But if prescriptions lag or delays surface—as with the on-going Adderall shortage—students may turn to dealers on the street, or through social media apps, for substitutes they don't realize could be laced with, or entirely made of, fentanyl.

“That’s why, if this vending machine saves one life on campus, to me that’s worth it,” says Perlman. “Just even seeing it can subconsciously bring the topic to the forefront. It makes you think: Why is it there?”

University officials will say it again: to help save lives. In fact, federal data shows nearly half of overdose deaths in 2021 could have been prevented through different interventions, including bystanders getting involved.

“No judgment zone”

Chang says installing the vending machine inside Benson Center, open daily from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m., and from 8 a.m. on weekends, makes strategic sense. “It’s public, but also private. You can go late at night when nobody’s there, if that’s what you want to do.” 

It’s also meant to be “a no judgment zone,” says Rosenberger. Campus ID isn't required to get a kit, and there's no restriction on the number of kits per person.

Each package comes with two doses of naloxone in a prepackaged nasal spray; one dose is often sufficient to treat an overdose. Chang cautions that education about Narcan is extremely important. For example, the spray cannot be self-administered. “You’re incapacitated during an overdose,” she says. “For naloxone to work, someone with naloxone needs to be around the overdose situation. That’s why it’s critical to have a lot of trained naloxone carriers in the community.” 

Narcan kits include instructions on how to recognize a person suffering an overdose, how a bystander should administer the nasal spray, and that in all cases, the bystander or others should immediately call 911. A QR code that links to an 11-minute California Public Health Department Narcan training video will be posted on the machine.

While the kits contain directions, Anna Murrin ’23 says groups of students have also created public health messages on flyers that are being posted around campus with that information, and more.

A powerful message

As a medical sociologist, Chang has long studied substance abuse and treatment among different populations. As at many universities, she says Santa Clara students aren’t as well-versed about addiction, treatment, or prevention.

Without education, she realizes how vulnerable they can be, particularly when it comes to opioids, since they may assume it comes from safe sources. An informal survey of dozens of SCU first-years by her students a few years ago revealed that 40 percent of those interviewed said they had already been prescribed opioids at some point in their lives.

“Typically it was introduced to young people after dental work, or a sports injury or an accident, and it made them feel much better,” Chang says. While that kind of prescription drug might make someone think it’s “safe,” when the prescription stops and the dependence continues, getting a supply from friends, or even strangers online, is not uncommon.

Charlie Ternan’s story is a tragic reminder.  The Santa Clara senior had undergone back surgery in 2018, and in 2020 had a recurrence of back pain. He bought what he believed to be Percocet from someone on Snapchat in May 2020, ingested it, and died from fentanyl poisoning. His parents Ed and Mary Ternan have since established Song For Charlie, a family-run nonprofit charity dedicated to raising awareness about fake drugs made or laced with fentanyl. Their heart-wrenching interviews on CNN, local news stations and podcasts offer warnings they hope will prevent similar tragedies. Chang says their support of the campus vending machine comes hand-in-hand with Narcan trainings they’ve done right alongside SCU students on campus.

“They channeled their grief into this incredibly powerful momentum for this issue,” says Chang. “Their support has been instrumental in driving this message home.”