SWACH Brings Naloxone Training to WSU Medical Students
SWACH was honored to support overdose education and naloxone access with a recent training for medical students at Washington State University’s Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. The session focused on practical overdose response skills, including naloxone distribution, while also creating space for future physicians to think differently about stigma, empathy, and patient care.
This training reflects SWACH’s broader harm reduction work across Southwest Washington and the growing interest from professional and academic settings to be better prepared for overdose emergencies. Janyce Richardson, SWACH’s Community Health Improvement Specialist, was invited back for a second year after delivering two trainings last year.
“It came about because they really wanted Narcan training,” Richardson said. “We have an opioid epidemic with numbers reaching an increase of upwards of 500%. And they liked the training so much that I did two of them last year and then they invited me back again.”
In a classroom setting, students were highly engaged and brought thoughtful questions, especially around community realities and bias. Richardson said the goal is not only to build confidence in overdose response, but also to help students approach substance use disorders with compassion.
“The goal is to not only ensure that they feel confident with narcan, but sort of reshape the what they might think about substance use disorders and what that looks like when compassion is brought into the picture,” she said.
Richardson also emphasized that overdose response should be treated as standard emergency care.
“Sort of the idea that using an EpiPen or a defibrillator is emergency care and seeing Narcan as also emergency care,” she said.
Following the training, Richardson was recognized by the Dean, a meaningful acknowledgment of the value this work brings to medical education and community health.
“It’s an honor to be at WSU with pre med students,” she said. “So that’s kind of a big accomplishment, as far as the landscape of reshaping what compassionate overdose looks like in communities.”
For Richardson, it also reflects the institution’s willingness to bring community-centered learning into medical training.
“It just speaks to WSU that they have a variety in diverse trainings that they're willing to have people come in and talk about things in the community, like substance use disorders, and provide different ways of looking at that,” she said.
Ultimately, the training is about strengthening future patient care, especially in a landscape where burnout and compassion fatigue are real challenges in the medical field.
“You have medical professionals that are entering a field where there is a high rate of burnout and compassion fatigue,” Richardson said. “I think it speaks to WSU and the students there that they're willing to be open minded and step into patient care with a more wraparound care view. This is an opportunity to engage with somebody who is seeking care.”
To learn more about naloxone trainings and Community Health Improvement’s work, head here.