IU’s Student Health Center now has a naloxone box containing 40 doses of naloxone nasal spray and several Fentanyl test strips as of Jan. 10, said Sarah Robertson, IU Substance Use Prevention coordinator.
The box is located in the vestibule of Door #1 at the Student Health Center and will be available to the IU and Bloomington community at all times for free. Those who utilize the naloxone box can remain anonymous with no questions asked.
Anyone who goes to the Student Health Center to utilize the naloxone box can open the door and retrieve what they need from the box, she said. No form of ID is required.
The Substance Use Intervention Office will monitor and refill the box every week as needed, Robertson said.
Naloxone, sometimes referred to as Narcan, is a nasal spray used to treat opioid overdoses. Common symptoms of an opioid overdose are unconsciousness, small pupils and shallow breathing, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Fentanyl testing strips are used to detect the presence of the incredibly potent opioid in different types of drugs. According to a WFYI article, roughly 85% of 2021 overdose deaths in Indiana were caused by Fentanyl. Many drugs are laced with fentanyl without a person knowing.
Robertson said the goal of providing this resource is to support harm reduction efforts within the IU community.
“If students or staff are experimenting or actively using substances, we want them to be safer while doing so,” Robertson said in an email. “It is better to have these items readily available and not need them, than need them and not have them.”
