Ending Overdose and Stigma on Broadway
Summary
In 2024, The Recovery Project committed to install two Overdose Aid Kits (O.A.K.s) in all 41 Broadway theaters in New York City by September 2025. O.A.K.s are metal boxes containing the overdose-reversing drug naloxone that can be accessed and administered quickly in the event of an overdose. O.A.K.s also contain fentanyl testing stips and other supplies that aid in overdose reversal. The Recovery Project also committed to train 12,000 Broadway theater staff members to recognize and respond to an opioid overdose using the O.A.K.s. The aim of the commitment is to provide Broadway theaters with lifesaving resources and knowledge to prevent overdose deaths and reduce the stigma of substance use disorder by prominently displaying the O.A.K.s. The Recovery Project will partner with theater organizations to accomplish the installations and engage local New York City partners to assist in training theater staff and restocking naloxone in each O.A.K.
Approach
The Recovery Project commits to placing Overdose Aid Kits (O.A.K.s) in the lobby and backstage of all 41 Broadway houses and training the 12,000 individuals that make up the respective staffs of those theaters in how to use naloxone and the O.A.K.s by September of 2025.
While Broadway may be thought of as a monolith by the public, it is actually an interlocking system of multiple independently owned theaters, who chose productions that are each their own for profit businesses run by multiple producers – overseen by multiple unions for the many artists, technicians, artisans and front of house workers involved.
It will take education, stigma reduction, and working with all the groups mentioned above to make this happen.
Using best practices established by Live Tampa Bay’s (our primary partner) “Lifesaving Initiative” that placed 500 Naloxone kits across the Tampa Bay region (from performing arts organizations to churches to schools) , we will focus on education first, evidence based, safety filled methodology.
We will partner with high-level Broadway artists (such as Annaleigh Ashford and Craig Lucas) , managers (such as Michael Page) , producers, unions and theater owners on: basic education of what Naloxone is and isn’t, the Good Samaritan laws of NY, and establishing a reporting and refill process.
Once education and trust is established, we’ll work with our partners, Faith in Harm Reduction (Erica Poellot, Executive Director) Julie Stampler and the Fishman Family Foundation to schedule trainings for staff and monitor and provide refills as necessary. Harm Reduction Theraputics will provide RiVive, an intranasal variation of Naloxone.
Action Plan
The project timeline will span September 2024 – September 2025.
September 2024 – March 2025: Community building and education to engage key partners, including theater owners, producers, the Broadway League, and several unions.
April – June 2025: Working with all parties to recruit the rest of the theaters and initiate the first round of staff training in recognizing and responding to an overdose with naloxone.
July – September 2025: Install 82 Overdose Aid Kits in 41 Broadway Theaters, and complete the final rounds of staff training in recognizing and responding to an overdose with naloxone.
Background
The overdose crisis is one of the largest and most pressing health crises of our time. In the U.S. we lose someone to addiction every 2.6 minutes (Esser, M.B., et. al, 2020) . Fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid, is the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 49, (Vitkovskaya, J., & Kan, C., 2022) and more people are dying from drug overdoses in the U.S. today than at any point in modern history (Interlandi, J., 2022) .
Naloxone (also known as Narcan) is one of the most valuable tools available to combat this crisis. An FDA approved medication, naloxone is an opioid antagonist that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose. naloxone can be administered by nearly anyone with minimal training, and when used properly, can save lives. Naloxone won’t have any effect on someone who doesn’t have opioids in their body, and is completely safe to administer to anyone.
Naloxone is a key component of the Overdose Aid Kit, or O.A.K., the latest program from the Clinton Global Initiative’s Overdose Response Network. A metal box that can be hung anywhere, O.A.K.s contain naloxone, fentanyl testing strips, and other lifesaving resources that can be accessed by anyone at any time, no questions asked.
The fact that over twelve million people attend Broadway performances each year makes Broadway theaters important places for overdose prevention resources and education. By installing O.A.K.s in Broadway theaters, it will not only make naloxone available to audiences and artists, but just its presence will be an active stigma reducer, placing it in the world of other life saving devices like defibrillators and epi-pens. Research has proven that effective stigma reduction efforts normalize substance use disorder (SUD) diagnosis, treatment, and recovery and increase outreach by those with SUD to supportive services.
Progress Update
Partnership Opportunities
The Recovery Project will work with the Clinton Foundation to secure 82-100 Overdose Aid Kits. A local community partner will be brought on board to complete all naloxone training and refill the O.A.K.s as needed., The Recovery Project will handle all logistics, while the Clinton Foundation will provide the Overdose Aid Kits (O.A.K.s) . The Recovery Project, Faith in Harm Reduction and the Fishman Family Foundation will schedule trainings for all staff. The above groups and Harm Reduction Therapeutics will prove RiVive, an intranasal variation of Naloxone.