All Univ. of Wisconsin Campuses to Carry Narcan
University of Wisconsin police officers will now carry Narcan so they can quickly revive individuals who have overdosed.
The move is in response to the spike of heroin overdoses across the nation.
The entire University of Wisconsin (UW) system will now have access to Narcan – a drug that reverses opioid overdoses.
The announcement was made by Attorney General Brad Schimel and UW System President Raymond Cross on Wednesday, reports NBC15, The nasal spray version of the drug will be available for use by all campus police officers at nine of UW’s campuses, including Madison, Green Bay, La Crosse, Oshkosh, Platteville, River Falls, Stevens Point, Stout and Superior.
Adapt Pharma will make it available for free at 10 UW campuses. Narcan is already available under existing partnerships at the other three campuses.
The move is in response to the spike of heroin overdoses across the nation. According to Schimel, UW is the first to make Narcan available to all of the campuses in its system.
Many hospitals already train their security officers to carry and administer the opiate antidote, including Massachusetts General Hospital. The move was in response to addicts shooting up in the bathrooms, halls and parking facilities of the hospital.
Libraries have also acquired the antidote in response to fatal and near-fatal overdoses at their facilities.
According to Adapt Pharma, more than 216 institutions of higher education in 35 states have participated in the program since its April launch. The company says it also has distributed about 5,500 free doses to high schools in 41 states.
Not only can users of the drugs overdose, so can first responders, such as police, teachers, nurses, EMTs and even K9s who are accidentally exposed to carfentanil when they are responding to an incident.
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About the Author
Robin Hattersley, Editor-in-Chief
Robin has been covering the security and campus law enforcement industries since 1998 and is a specialist in school, university and hospital security, public safety and emergency management, as well as emerging technologies and systems integration. She joined CS in 2005 and has authored award-winning editorial on campus law enforcement and security funding, officer recruitment and retention, access control, IP video, network integration, event management, crime trends, the Clery Act, Title IX compliance, sexual assault, dating abuse, emergency communications, incident management software and more. Robin has been featured on national and local media outlets and was formerly associate editor for the trade publication Security Sales & Integration. She obtained her undergraduate degree in history from California State University, Long Beach.
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