Student Reflection: TBSM's Narcan Initiative

Both of my parents are accountants. To say that they don’t understand what I do on a daily basis is, to put it gently, an understatement. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t interested. They are always excited to ask questions about my day when I call on my way home from clinic. They ask so many questions that I don’t understand how they can keep coming up with more to ask. However, it’s their curiosity that sparked the whole Narcan project idea.

Last winter, I went home to spend some time with my family. Like many families do, we decided to watch an episode of 60 Minutes together. Sure enough, there was a segment about a program in Utah where they showed people walking around the streets of Salt Lake City just passing out Narcan to seemingly everyone. Knowing about my involvement with TBSM and our street runs, my mom turned to me and asked if we were doing something similar. We were not.

After researching the opioid epidemic in the Tampa area, I quickly learned that there was a need for a similar program especially amongst TBSM’s patient population – yet none existed. The Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) started an Overdose Prevention Program (OPP) in September 2016 designed to equip organizations like TBSM that serve populations at-risk of experiencing or witnessing an overdose with Narcan free-of-charge. The goal of the OPP is to train individuals in the recognition and reversal of an overdose. I helped lead TBSM’s effort to enroll in this program and ultimately begin distributing Narcan to our patients.

Over the past 6 months, we have equipped nearly 90 individuals in downtown Tampa with Narcan and have trained them in the recognition and reversal of an overdose. We have heard countless stories of tragedy of individuals who are addicted to opioids or who are worried about friends and relatives that use them. They are incredibly thankful for this program. And just a couple weeks ago, we received word that thanks to this training, we helped reverse a Fentanyl overdose and save a life.

It is quite rewarding to see our hard work make an impact amongst the patients we serve. To have started this program was a feat on its own, but to have played a part in reversing an overdose was truly unimaginable – well, maybe not for a couple of interested parents.

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Josh Mizels is a third-year medical student at USF Morsani College of Medicine and a Mobile Clinic Coordinator for TBSM.

As reflection imbues work with meaning, provides deeper insight, and promotes complex learning, TBSM volunteers are invited to write about their personal experiences and the process of service learning with TBSM every month.