WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., October 31, 2023 – West Liberty University is increasing accessibility to Naloxone by installing additional ONEboxes on campus. The ONEbox is an emergency opioid reversal and rescue kit designed to promote safety by assuring that individuals have the on-demand training needed to respond to an overdose emergency through bystander intervention.
An initial ONEbox was installed outside of Student Health Services in November of 2022 as part of the Be The One Initiative. This initiative was created by the West Virginia Collegiate Recovery Program (WVCRN) and the West Virginia Drug Intervention Institute (WVDII), with the goal of increasing prevention and recovery efforts on West Virginia campuses.
“West Liberty University is committed to the safety of our campus community. By increasing the accessibility to naloxone on campus, we are decreasing stigma and reducing the chances of an opioid overdose. The ONEbox contains two doses of nasal naloxone, personal protective equipment, and a video that educates and provides training on how to properly respond to an overdose,” said Christy Bennington, RN, who serves as WLU’s Director of Student Health Services.
Additional ONEboxes have been installed next to the Automated External Defibrillators (AED’s) located in Rogers Hall outside of the cafeteria, the College Union, and the ASRC.
“By increasing the number of ONEboxes on campus, we hope to help our students feel more comfortable, be more knowledgeable, and feel more empowered to support the rest of the campus community. Just like AED’s, we hope to never have to use it but it’s there just in case. It is our goal to continue to increase accessibility to naloxone by adding additional ONEboxes in the future across campus,” said Katie Cooper, Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management.
For more information, please contact Christy Bennington in Student Health Services at 304-336-8049.
West Liberty University is West Virginia’s oldest public university, and it offers more than 70 undergraduate majors and 12 graduate programs, both online and on campus. Learn more at westliberty.edu.