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.