Wednesday Listen: Are Campuses Prepared for the Opioid Epidemic?
From NPR's Consider This
Season 4 of “Office Hours with Dr. De Veau” will be coming later this fall, with some mini-pods, full episodes and new and returning guests. But for now, I want to highlight podcast episodes from other sources that may pique your interest. This episode of “Consider This” from NPR highlights the difficulty in preparing campuses for the realities of the risk of opioid overdoses on campus.
I recall in 2017 having a conversation with my then Director of Health & Wellness Services the necessity of considering bringing Narcan on campus. My president wanted nothing of the sort. Simply having Narcan available in key locations on campus was basically an admission that we had a heroin problem. No matter how it was spun by my expert, the president wanted nothing to do with it. Until the Police Chief got on board and made his position known. Shortly thereafter, the Health Center and the Police Department had Narcan available.
It wasn’t enough, but at the time it was a move in the correct direction. Health education around opioids was different 7 years ago. Back then, individuals needing Narcan were not ingesting drugs laced with fentanyl. The urgency for access to Narcan and proper education on when it may be necessary to use it should be felt on any campus. Urban, rural, large or tiny … this is not something campuses can ignore.
As I listened to this podcast episode, I was brought back to those conversations that I had with the College’s President, and how his knee-jerk reaction to the simple idea of having Narcan on campus was equivalent to an admission of a campus problem. College and University Presidents, as it says in the podcast, have a tough job, but in this case, perhaps leaning into preventative health education, risk prevention and best practice may be the easiest move a President could make. Especially when the unthinkable may have been preventable.
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Dr. Laura De Veau is Principal & Founder of Fortify Associates, LLC. Fortify Associates, LLC is unique in the higher education, not-for-profit, and public service market. They provide comprehensive workshops, program reviews and project management services with a combination of in-person and virtual delivery. Fortify Associates is committed to creating experiences that are unique to the needs and culture of each of their clients. Dr. Laura De Veau is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Boston College’s Lynch School of Education & Human Development.