In a city once known as the epicenter of the opioid epidemic, two Marshall professors are taking strides to ensure the community is not only protected but also prepared.
After helping to distribute opioid overdose reversal kits across campus, Jessa Dingess, clinical instructor for the Behavior Health Center, and Caitlin Trombley, assistant professor of sociology, are now partnering with local bars to promote student safety off campus by keeping a ONEbox behind their counters.
“We came up with a strategy because we were hearing from other people, and with the stigma with addiction, like the, ‘Oh, it doesn’t happen in my place,’ kind of thing,” Dingess said. “But we want you to be prepared if it does. We hope you never have to use this, but let us give it to you for free.”
The ONEbox is an emergency overdose response kit that contains personal protective equipment, user-provided naloxone, bilingual instructions and a five-minute training video featuring Jan Rader, the director of public health and drug control policy for the city of Huntington.
Rader, who helped create the ONEbox, said the kit is similar to a fire extinguisher in that, “Nobody wants a fire, but if you have one, you have a way to put it out,” Dingess said.
The owners of local bars such as Boots, Stonewall Nightclub, Bar None and LaFontaine’s were not only receptive to the idea, but also wanted more resources, Trombley said.
The two have not made their way to every bar in Huntington yet, but they said none have rejected a partnership at this point. The Union and St. Mark’s, they said, are still on the list of bars to be visited.
Trombley and Dingess began assisting in the distribution of ONEboxes on campus last fall after teaming up with fellow staff members involved in harm reduction work. Trombley said their kits can be found in the student center, the Rec Center and even in some fraternity and sorority houses.
Trombley said the ONEbox is particularly necessary in college towns because of the prevalence of drugs; whether it’s Tylenol or Adderall, any drug is at risk of being laced, she said.
“People are going to do drugs, so it’s just good to know that if something happens, they’re not going to die from the first time they decide to do a bump of cocaine, and it had fentanyl in it,” Trombley said.
Regardless of the circumstances that led to the emergency, Dingess said keeping naloxone on-hand has saved and will continue to save lives.
“There’s a lot of people that are in recovery and a lot of people who are really thriving and turning their lives around and getting themselves out of the situation that they were in,” she said.
“People can’t recover if they’re not alive,” she said, “so, I think that it gives people that opportunity to have a second chance and a fresh start.”
Baylee Parsons can be contacted at [email protected].
