Nursing students complete overdose drug program

Eighty-five senior Nursing students at Youngstown State University recently underwent training in implementing Project Dawn, a community-based overdose drug program taught by educators from the Mahoning County District Board of Health. The training, arranged by Nursing faculty members Wendy Thomas and Kim Ballone, included identification of an overdose and the administration of Nalaxone (Narcan), a drug that reverses the effects of an overdose. Each student received a certification card and two doses of Narcan with a nasal applicator and gloves. Ohio has one of the nation’s highest rates of drug overdose deaths involving opioids, although some improvement has been noted in Mahoning and Trumbull counties due to current interventions, including the availability of Narcan.