Lafayette College has installed a box of Narcan — a naloxone medication used to reverse opioid overdose — in Farinon College Center to be freely accessible by students during operating hours. The college partnered with the local organization FakeIsReal to provide the box and announced the resource through the Lafayette Today on Dec. 5.
The Narcan provided is a nasal spray, with instructions for its administration available through a QR code on the box.
“It is a national best practice to make Narcan available to students in case of an accidental opioid overdose,” wrote Vice President for Student Life Sarah Moschenross in an email. Moschenross said she collaborated with Bailey Health Center to spearhead the project.
Administering Narcan to someone not overdosing on an opioid is not harmful, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Administrators said they are hoping the box will make the medication more easily accessible to students. While Bailey Health Center keeps Narcan stocked, it is not open every day, and though Public Safety officers carry Narcan during patrol, they must be contacted to provide it.
While working with Moschenross, Jodi Schluter, a physician assistant and the college’s director of health services, met with other college health centers in the Lehigh Valley. Schluter said that Lehigh University and Moravian University had similar Narcan distribution systems in place.
“Many of them said they have these available boxes that are free and available to students to go and grab, versus them having to come to the health center and grab because you want to use it and you want to use it quickly if there’s a concern,” Schluter said.
Other Patriot League schools, like Colgate University, also have similar resources on campus.
FakeIsReal, which primarily serves as an anti-fentanyl organization, began initiatives last year to distribute Narcan and drug disposal pouches across Northampton County. The organization also leads workshops to teach how to use and distribute Narcan in case of a fentanyl overdose, according to its website.
Fentanyl occurs in opioids, including prescription medications and heroin, per the CDC.
Of the 4,722 fatal overdoses in Pennsylvania during 2023, 76.7% involved fentanyl, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. This number has more than doubled since 2012.
In Northampton County, 61 fatal overdoses occurred in 2023, with 44 overdoses — or 72.1% — involving fentanyl.
“This has been an interest of mine for some time in my work with college students, and became a larger passion after losing a family member to an accidental exposure of fentanyl,” wrote Moschenross of her inspiration for the project.
The use of Narcan for emergencies is uncommon at Lafayette. Schluter said she has never had to use Narcan in the health center, and Director of Public Safety Jeff Troxell was “not aware of any case” in which Narcan had to be used by an officer.
“Awareness is key and spreads the word,” Troxell said. “I see ourselves all as educators, too. So, safety and health is a priority in our business, in our department, so the more people that can become aware of the potential dangers to fentanyl and the use of Narcan, the better.”
Moschenross hopes to expand the Narcan stations across campus in the future.
“I welcome student feedback on those potential locations,” she wrote.
