TOLEDO, Ohio — Nalaxone, also known by its brand name Narcan, is the drug that reverses overdoses.
Toledo Lucas County Health Department is helping to train some University of Toledo students to use the drug, to save lives.
Jennifer Ten Eyck is a second-year medical student at the University of Toledo. She's already been trained on using naloxone and now she's teaching her peers.
"There's a lot of my classmates from high school who are no longer here because they passed away because of an opioid overdose. To have the tool to reverse an opioid overdose and potentially save someone's life is really great," said Ten Eyck.
This training is now part of the curriculum for health profession students at UT. That includes med students, nursing students, occupational and speech therapy students, to name a few.
"Ohio and some of the cities in Ohio are in the top rankings for opioid deaths. And so it does really take a united front--a team approach to addressing this issue," said Michelle Masterson, the Director for the School of Interpersonal Education at UT.
About 600 students are taking part in the training. Staff with the Toledo Lucas County Health Department are teaching the students how to identify an opioid overdose, give CPR, administer the naloxone and care for the patient afterwards.
"It's like using a nasal spray that one might use for sinuses. It's very, very simple but important to know when to use it and how often. It really is an amazing medicine in that side effects are almost non existent," said Dr. Donna Woodson, President of the Toledo-Lucas County Health Board.
Most importantly, these students are learning how to save lives.