Photo by Angela Foster
If someone experiences an opioid overdose on the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga campus, University leaders want a life-saving resource nearby.
This spring, UTC completed the installation of 52 ONEbox naloxone stations across campus, placing them in buildings alongside other emergency equipment such as automated external defibrillators (AEDs).
The expansion builds on years of work around overdose response education, naloxone distribution and addiction support. It also reflects a broader effort to ensure the campus is prepared to respond to emergencies with tools that are visible, accessible and easy to use.
“We as a campus want to make sure that we are prepared to respond to any type of emergency that could happen with tools that are safe and that are available,” UTC Center for Wellbeing Director Megan McKnight said. “Knowing that naloxone is safe, it is something we have available to us and have funding to supply. Like other types of emergency equipment we have, it’s another piece that we have available in that toolbox.”
Naloxone is a medicine used to temporarily reverse an opioid overdose and restore breathing.
Kat James, assistant director for substance use education and recovery in the Center for Wellbeing, said making naloxone available on campus is about preparedness, safety and response.
“We have a lot of evidence that having naloxone available does not encourage substance use,” James said. “What it does is keep people alive if they do encounter an overdose.”
McKnight said the University first installed ONEboxes in residence halls in 2024, placing them where students lived. Since then, UTC has expanded the effort to the University Center, the Aquatic and Recreation Center, McKenzie Arena, UTC Library, and academic buildings—and now to the entire campus.
Where there is an AED, there is now a ONEbox. The units are co-located with other emergency equipment and stocked with two doses of naloxone nasal spray, a CPR face shield, gloves and antiseptic wipes.
James said the boxes include built-in guidance for anyone responding in an emergency.
“If somebody forgets what they’ve learned or they haven’t had the opportunity to go through training yet, when they open that ONEbox, a video kicks off that walks people through the process of administering naloxone in real time,” James said. “Instructions are also on the boxes, so there are different ways for people to get that information.”
The video is designed to be brief and practical and is paced with the intervention itself.
McKnight said that ease of use helped campus leaders move forward with wider installation.
“It’s really quick and easy,” she said, “so even if folks are responding and they aren’t sure in grabbing that resource, they can be trained quickly to save that life.”
The broader push also aligns with a larger opioid abatement effort taking shape at UTC.
McKnight said the University has worked to create more intentional discussions around opioid overdose response and prevention, reporting increases in the number of people trained on campus and in the amount of naloxone and fentanyl test strips distributed to students, faculty and staff.
There was recognition that carrying naloxone personally was only part of the answer.
“As we have grown opioid overdose response education and naloxone distribution on our campus, it became clear that we needed to provide stationary naloxone in buildings, co-located with other emergency equipment,” McKnight said.
That next step became possible through outside funding.
UTC’s ONEbox initiative is funded through a Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council Community Grant award to the Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association (TICUA) for the Campus Overdose Prevention Project. The overall award is split among participating campuses participating through the Coalition for Healthy and Safe Campus Communities, a subprogram of TICUA.
Technical support for the project also came through the SAFE Project, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization working with participating schools.
James said the strategy is twofold: encourage people to carry naloxone and make sure it is also available throughout campus if an overdose happens in a public setting.
“It is important to us that we are educating folks on our campus about how to use these resources,” James said. “Naloxone is effective against opioid overdoses, but is safe even if a bystander is not completely certain opioids are involved.
“We also pair this education with a reminder to call 911 so that we can get somebody the medical help that they might need.”
UTC Director of Public Safety Brett Fuchs said the campuswide installation fits with the University’s broader approach to emergency preparedness by making critical medical supplies easy to find in moments of need.
“While all of our first responder personnel on campus and off campus have access to materials like naloxone, we want to make sure that our students and employees have quick access to supplies to help save a life or to prevent further injury,” he said.
Placing ONEboxes alongside other emergency supplies was a deliberate choice.
“We’ve tried to make it consistent to have all of the first aid and medical supplies in one location so folks know where to go look for them,” Fuchs said. “We’ve tried to always put them in central locations in every building near a front door or near a central entryway.”
In larger facilities, he said, UTC added multiple locations to make sure people could reach supplies quickly. The goal, he said, “is to place the boxes where people pass them often enough that they remember where they are when an emergency happens.”
The University’s initial rollout in residence halls depended on a strong partnership with Housing and Residence Life. McKnight said housing staff members were fully trained on how to use the resource should they need it.
Those first 12 residence hall boxes became the foundation for the larger expansion now in place.
James said that preparation can make a difference not only in emergencies but also in shaping campus culture around care, safety and support.
“We’re providing all of that under a continuum of care that says, regardless of which choices you might be making, we’re here,” James said. “We care about you. We want you to have the life you want to have.”
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