With the goal of working in outpatient pharmacy, Titilayo Sunday knows she may someday encounter a patient overdosing on opioids, whether prescription painkillers or an illicit drug like heroin.
A pharmacy doctoral student in her final year, Sunday is learning how to handle such a situation in her clinical rotation at The Collaboratory, ACPHS’ public health resource. Indeed, she has done more than acquire knowledge about what to do when someone overdoses. She also trains city residents and community-based service providers to administer the opioid antidote naloxone (known by the brand Narcan) and to test for the presence of potent additives like fentanyl and xylazine in a drug procured on the street.
In the face of a continued national crisis in overdose deaths, ACPHS pharmacy students like Sunday are involved in extended community outreach supported by a $166,000 grant to The Collaboratory from Albany County’s Opioid Settlement Fund. Working with public health pharmacist Dr. Jacquelyn Dwyer ’13, they participate in trainings each Monday morning at The Collaboratory’s offices in Albany’s South End and at Collaboratory partners like the Trinity Alliance, which provides health-related services to area residents. Sunday has also helped train area residents at various health and wellness events in the community.
She has enjoyed the experience.
“This definitely fits in the field I’m trying to work in,” Sunday said. “You get to meet different people, who speak different languages. You learn how to communicate with them, train them, inform them.”
The Collaboratory takes a harm reduction approach, seeking to curb the most lethal effects of opioid use. While students and staff may direct interested individuals to treatment providers, the focus is to teach people to save the life of someone in the throes of an overdose and to educate drug users how to detect deadly fentanyl and xylazine in their supplies — so they can make an informed choice and perhaps avoid use. About 70% of opioid deaths are attributable to fentanyl, a synthetic narcotic that is as much as 50 times more potent than heroin.
In a demonstration of the training she provides, Sunday took just a few minutes to explain how to administer an easy-to-use Narcan nasal spray and how a recipient would be expected to react to it. She reassured her trainee that Narcan will not harm someone, even if administered to a person who appears to be overdosing but did not actually take opioids. Those who are trained receive two free doses of naloxone to carry with them.
Collaboratory Manager Kaylee Stewart ’24 encourages members of the ACPHS community to take a little time to learn to save a life.
“Narcan training and distribution events are a way to educate the community about how they can always be ready to help in a situation if needed,” Stewart said. “The training takes about five minutes and is available to anyone who is interested.”