CCNY Provides NARCAN Training to Address Rising Drug Overdoses.

Words by Micaela Lue and Helen Bauer

Images by Micaela Lue and Bruce Gregg

You’re standing on a subway platform. Next to you on a bench is a person pitched over. You wonder if they fell asleep in such a dangerous position, but find this unlikely. What do you do?

Jake Nill, the City College LGBTQ+ center’s program manager hoped to have this question answered by inviting Kaity Lloyd-Styles and Charles Ko from the NYC Dept of Health + Mental Hygiene to educate students on how to identify an overdose and what measures to take to reverse one. 

In a survey conducted in 2019, researchers found that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students under the age of 21 were disproportionately represented as having consumed illicit drugs and alcohol. There has been a push to create a more individualized approach to helping young people avoid drug overdoses. 

In order to prevent overdose fatalities, NARCAN trainings are being held to make information and this medication more accessible. 

NARCAN, the product name for the drug Naloxone, is a nasal spray administered to reverse opioid overdoses.

Lloyd-Styles informed attendees of the steps to take if you suspect someone is having an overdose. First, they should call them from a distance. If they don’t immediately respond, they should notify the person they will call 911. 

If the person is still unresponsive, they should conduct a sternal rub, “by grinding [their] knuckles, applying some pressure into their breastbone.” The sternal rub should cause enough discomfort to rouse them into consciousness if they are not experiencing an overdose. Only after these measures, if the person is still unconscious, should medical help be called and naloxone be given. 

Attendees received an overdose rescue kit containing NARCAN nasal spray and other necessary products.  

The need for targeted interventions applies predominantly to queer Black and Latinx communities, of which City College is largely comprised. By spreading awareness about how to reverse overdoses in at-risk demographics, Nill hopes to empower trainees to affect local positive change. 

For more information about the NARCAN training sessions conducted each semester at City College, email the LGBTQ+ Student Center at lgbtq@ccny.cuny.edu.