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UQ-Ochsner Med Student Champions Narcan Training Initiative
Release Date: February 9, 2024
Medical students at the UQ-Ochsner Clinical School recently underwent training on how to help stop a fatal opioid overdose with naloxone, a medication most commonly known as Narcan.
Fourth year student Jacob Bassin was inspired to start the school’s training initiative as a result of his brother’s death from an overdose.
Louisiana’s overdose death rate is nearly double the national average, and 95% of those deaths were caused by fentanyl, a synthetic opioid often mixed with other drugs to make the mixture stronger. Fentanyl is about 50 times more potent than heroin.
Narcan can almost instantly reverse a life-threatening opioid overdose, however the due to funding, it is very difficult to get the actual medication. Narcan costs about $50, which could be prohibitive for some people — especially those struggling with addiction — to buy and keep on hand.
Bassin hopes to take his Narcan training initiative to other medical schools in the region. His dream is to have as many people armed and trained with the life-saving medication as possible, so nobody has to lose a loved one to an overdose like he did. “Something took my brother away, and I want to know more about it and then turn that into something positive,” Bassin said.
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