The West Virginia Collegiate Recovery Network (WVCRN) and the West Virginia Drug Intervention Institute (WV DII) have launched a new overdose prevention and education initiative on West Virginia’s college and university campuses titled, “Be The One.” The initiative is the first of its kind and spans many topics. The components include opioid overdose prevention education for bystanders to equip and encourage students, staff, and faculty to “Be The One” to save a life with naloxone; a prescription medication safety curriculum; recovery ally training; opioid emergency rescue kits; and a soon to be released module on fentanyl.
The purpose of the initiative is to educate and motivate individuals, campuses and communities to take action across the continuum to prevent medication misuse, prevent and respond to overdoses, to build informed communities, and promote recovery and recovery support.
The first project of the initiative included distribution and installation of 50 opioid overdose rescue kits, also known as “Naloxboxes,” on college and university campuses across the Mountain State. Kits contained two doses of the opioid reversal medication, naloxone, and training materials instructing individuals how to administer naloxone during an active overdose. The boxes are located on six campuses in West Virginia. BridgeValley Career and Technical College, Southern West Virginia Career and Technical College and New River Career and Technical College have boxes in all campus buildings. Concord University and West Virginia State University have boxes available at key locations on campus. Bluefield State University has installed boxes in all residence halls and additional key locations on campus.
WVCRN and WV DII teams work closely with creative partner Joe Murphy of Murphy Media who created the new ONEbox, a technology enabled opioid emergency kit. ONEbox has a clean and simple interface that’s easy to use and understand when an overdose occurs. Visual and multilingual voice instructions guide users through the process, from the moment it is determined that help is needed by administering naloxone, all the way through rescue breathing and briefing emergency officials. ONEbox has a training mode which allows the box to be used as a training tool. The box is patent pending and assembled by West Virginians in recovery. Four campuses have received the new ONEbox emergency kits including Marshall University, West Virginia University, West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine and WVU - Parkersburg.
WVCRN will be distributing an additional 200 ONEboxes and at least 10 additional colleges and universities will join this life saving mission.
The Peer Recovery Support Specialists through WVCRN deliver naloxone training in person and through a recorded video. The PRSS staff have trained more than 2,500 individuals on campus and in their communities and have distributed more than 2,000 naloxone kits in addition to the array of other recovery support services they offer.
WVDII and WVCRN also provide primary prevention through the SmartRx University Medication Safety Program which educates college students on the benefits of medication safety and the harmful effects that can come with prescription drug misuse. This is available through a web-based curriculum and through peers on campus. The SmartRxU Trainer curriculum is designed to certify college students on campus to educate their peers on medication safety in addition to the module for students. The SmartRxU Trainer program allows students to serve as medication safety ambassadors on campus, but also equips students to develop presentation and leadership skills.
Recovery Ally Training is an additional component of Be The One. Recovery Ally Training is available through WVCRN Peer Recovery Support Specialists in person or via an online portal. The training covers the basics of substance use disorders, recovery and the various pathways to recovery. Recovery Ally Training provides an overview of stigma and actions to reduce stigma and lower barriers to assist others in accessing care and recovery support.
The newest module will focus on fentanyl awareness and the various resources available related to prevention of fentanyl exposure. The ongoing overdose crisis and heightened awareness related to counterfeit pills make it a critical prevention education topic in higher education. Fentanyl test strips are available anonymously through WV DII and WVCRN. WV DII and WVCRN plan to discuss best practices for fentanyl awareness.
The West Virginia Collegiate Recovery Network is funded through the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources State Opioid Response, affiliated with Marshall University Center of Excellence for Recovery, and is a project through the Alliance for the Economic Development of Southern West Virginia which is housed at Marshall University Center of Excellence. The West Virginia Collegiate Recovery Network and its partners fund g and support peer support specialists at the following institutions: Bluefield State University, BridgeValley Career and Technical College, Concord University, Marshall University, New River Career and Technical College, Southern West Virginia Career and Technical College, West Virginia State University and West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine.
WVCRN is available to support other schools throughout West Virginia that are interested in implementing the components of Be The One in addition to providing training and technical assistance for schools who want to build collegiate recovery communities.
The definition of recovery is broad and includes recovery support for those who have had a substance use disorder as well as those who are in recovery from behavioral health conditions such as disordered eating, problem gambling, anxiety, depression or who have been impacted by someone else’s use or condition.
WVCRN staff and schools work closely with the Collegiate Strategic Prevention Framework (C-SPF) grant through the Marshall University Center of Excellence for Recovery to help bridge prevention and recovery efforts. The C-SPF initiative has enhanced the prevention infrastructure and built capacity among higher education institutions in Southern West Virginia to prevent the onset and reduce the progression of alcohol, tobacco and vaping, marijuana, and prescription drug misuse. The Center was awarded a five-year grant for this project by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in 2020.
For more information regarding Be The One and the West Virginia Collegiate Recovery Network, please contact Susie Mullens at mullens20@marshall.edu.
For more information regarding WV DII, please contact Dr. Susan Bissett at susan@wvdii.org.