The Office of Prevention and Support, in partnership with Counseling and Psychological Services (CPS), offered a Narcan training session on Feb. 12. The training taught students how to spot the signs of an overdose and administer Narcan.
Narcan is a nasal spray that is used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose by blocking opioid receptors. Narcan is seen as safe because if it is used on someone who is not overdosing, it does not harm them.
“We were very fortunate to have Harmony Seaburg, the national program coordinator at the National Harm Reduction Coalition, conduct the training,” said Alice Feng, supervising counselor and coordinator for diversity, equity and social justice initiatives at CPS. “She provided an overview of what opioids and Naloxone are and how they act on the body, how to recognize signs of overdose, how to respond to an overdose, including how to administer Narcan, and how to use Fentanyl test strips.”
Enough students registered that CPS had to switch locations to accommodate the signups. 78 students signed up before CPS had to close registration despite requests to reopen. Around 40 students attended, along with academic advisors and members of Campus Ministry.
Students who attended appreciated the training and found it helpful.
“When I saw the flyer for the Narcan training in my email, I knew immediately it was something I wanted to go to,” said Theda Wilkens, FCRH ’27. “I’m hoping to go into a career in pain neuroscience, safe opioid usage, and alternative pain treatments, so learning about what to do in the event of an opioid overdose was invaluable for me.”
“We hope that students feel empowered to use this life-saving medication to potentially save lives. More importantly, we hope this workshop demonstrates our commitment to foster a culture of safety and understanding,” said Feng. “There’s so much stigma surrounding substance use and addiction that impacts individuals and their family members. That stigma can lead to feelings of shame, guilt, anxiety, and/or blame, all of which can make it harder for those impacted to seek out support.”
CPS did not expect there to be so much interest in the training.
“CPS talked about offering the Narcan training in the fall as a new and different way for us to connect with students outside of our office,” said Feng. “We actually didn’t expect for there to be so much interest. To my knowledge, this was the first time a training of this kind was offered to the Fordham community.”
Attendees of the training were given Narcan kits and Fentanyl testing strips to take home.
“Safe drug usage and harm reduction education are both super important to me and very pertinent to my career path, and the physical experience, as well as the slideshow, were extremely beneficial. I also appreciated that we were given Narcan kits to take home with us,” said Wilkens.
CPS plans to offer the training again, potentially at the end of the spring semester.
“Since there was a lot of interest this time, we are planning on offering this training again in the near future — definitely sometime in the fall, if not sometime before the end of the spring semester,” said Feng.
