EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WLAX/WEAU) – The Eau Claire City-County Health Department wants everyone to be prepared if they come across someone who has overdosed. Today (11/16/23) they focused on teaching students and staff at UW-Eau Claire About Narcan. The Health Department says there were 21 overdose deaths in Eau Claire County in 2022. And so far in 2023, there have been 80 non-fatal opioid overdoses.

50 students and staff from UW-Eau Claire learned more about what an overdose looks like and what options they have to help on campus. UW Eau Claire Health Educator, Christy Prust, says, “The initial charge came from some UW Milwaukee students who passed away from opioid overdoses. Then it became an initiative that all the UW system schools took on to get these Narcan dispenser boxes onto their campuses so that people had access to them whether they want to have them just on themselves, whether they want to give them to a friend or if they need to be used in an emergency situation.”

Naloxone boxes are located in all of the residence halls and high-traffic buildings on campus.