After the deaths of 2 UWM students, UW campuses make Narcan more widely available
Small but potentially lifesaving boxes were installed across the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus this summer. Inside of each is two doses of the opioid overdose reversal medication known as Narcan.
Installation of the boxes in each dorm, as well as in other highly trafficked areas like the student union and library, came in the wake of two UWM students dying from fentanyl poisoning in 2021.
Logan Rachwal, 19, of Pewaukee, died in February. Cade Reddington, 18, of Waunakee, died in November.
"The last thing we ever want is another child to be lost or any family going through anything like this," Logan's mom, Erin Rachwal, said at a Monday news conference. "So what better place to start than at the campus where our children died at?"
Rachwal said she and her family's Love, Logan Foundation — a nod to her son's Valentine's Day death — won't stop pushing for the boxes until they are as common on college campuses as fire extinguishers.
Her activism is paying off.
Ten of the other 13 UW schools have either already installed Narcan boxes across their campuses or plan to do so this fall, according to UW System spokesperson Mark Pitsch. The remaining two UW schools, Platteville and Superior, have trained police officers, who can quickly respond and administer Narcan.
Marquette University takes the same approach.
That was how UWM previously operated, too. University police officers have carried Narcan while on patrol since 2017, according to Police Chief David Salazar.
Advocates such as Rachwal say relying solely on police to administer Narcan isn't enough. Her son lived on the 11th floor of Sandburg Hall, a large dorm that also houses UWM's Police Department.
Distributing Narcan more broadly, as well as offering more education on how to recognize signs of fentanyl poisoning, may have saved Logan's life, she said. On the night of his death, he talked to his girlfriend in a video call in his room, took a pill and started to snore — an early sign of fentanyl ingestion.
Criminal drug networks are mass producing fake pills and falsely marketing them as legitimate prescription pills, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The counterfeit pills often contain fentanyl, a synthetic opiate that is deadly in doses as small as 2 milligrams.
Fentanyl is "the single deadliest drug threat our nation has ever encountered," said DEA official Anne Milgram.
In Wisconsin, the state health department last week warned about an increased number of deaths due to fentanyl-laced drugs. Synthetic opioids were responsible for 91% of opioid overdose deaths in the state last year.
"It's sad it cost my son his life," Rachwal said. "I never condone any drug use, but these kids are all experimenting, they're dealing with depression, they're dealing with anxiety."
UW campuses did not provide data on student overdose deaths in recent years. Most referred the Journal Sentinel to the UW System, which said it didn't track the information.
At Marquette, police haven't responded to any opioid overdose deaths for students in recent years, spokesperson Lynn Griffith said.
Education is key
UWM has also expanded substance abuse education with new, optional training sessions for students, staff and community members, said Susan Cushman, UWM's campus alcohol and other drug coordinator. A pilot program for students living in the dorms, for example, incentivizes the training by offering guest privileges sooner to those who complete it.
Training is important because Narcan only temporarily reverses the effects of fentanyl poisoning. Students administering the nasal spray medication need to know calling 911 should be the first part of the process.
Wisconsin Voices for Recovery, a statewide group supported by the state health department and UW-Madison, provided the Narcan boxes at no cost to UWM. Whenever a dose is used, an electronic signal is sent that the box needs to be restocked.
UW-Oshkosh last fall was the first campus in the UW System to add Narcan boxes on campus. Between February and May of this year, Narcan was taken out and replaced seven times, university spokesperson Natalie Johnson said.
The idea wasn't without critics, who argued making Narcan so easily accessible would encourage drug use.
It's a position Rachwal said she could understand until Logan's death changed her perspective.
"No more," she said. "We need to eliminate the stigma."
Rachwal is spreading her message to anyone who will listen.
She attended a DEA summit on the overdose epidemic in June. She appeared on "Fox News & Friends" a few weeks ago. She even put up billboard signs that can be seen in different spots around Waukesha, Milwaukee and Washington counties.
And with the support of another group bringing awareness to the dangers of fentanyl, a similar billboard debuted in New York City's Times Square earlier this month.
"They didn't know," the sign reads, bordered by the faces of more than a dozen young individuals who died from fentanyl. Logan is pictured on the top left.
Rachwal is fundraising for the Wisconsin billboards to stay up beyond October. To donate, visit loveloganfoundation.org.
Contact Kelly Meyerhofer at kmeyerhofer@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KellyMeyerhofer.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: UW-Milwaukee installs Narcan boxes to treat fentanyl poisoning
