(WSIL)---SIU's School of Medicine distributed Narcan Wednesday on the SIU Carbondale campus.
Their goal was to help educate students about opioids and hopefully help save lives.
The IDPH calls the opioid crisis Illinois's other epidemic.
There was a 33% increase in opioid overdose deaths in 2020, and 2.2% more opioid deaths than homicides.
The school of medicine gave out 130 boxes of Narcan while on SIU's campus, with two doses per box.
However, in order to get the box, students had to learn how to use the medicine safely.
"We're training people to not only know how to recognize an overdose, but to be able to respond. Although they'll call 9-1-1 to get help, they can administer Narcan themselves, bringing that person back and hopefully saving their life," said Brent Vanham, a project coordinator with the SIU School of Medicine.
And Vanham advises that if you see someone who is unconscious and having trouble breathing, he recommends administering Narcan even if you're not sure if that person is having an overdose.
He said it is not dangerous to administer the Narcan to someone not having an overdose, and it is better to be safe than sorry.
