[Note: The $5 price point for making these is based on buying all of the materials for these kits discussed below in bulk with nonprofit sales tax exemptions. We’ve tested this with ordering materials for making 1,600 kits & learning as we go. Not ordering materials in bulk? It may cost closer to $10 each.]
Every year, Save a Life Day inspires fresh innovation at the forefront of naloxone distribution and challenging stigma.
The theme for this year’s annual free naloxone day is “naloxone everywhere.” Each 2024 county organizer will be sent a few of these emergency naloxone wall boxes (sans naloxone itself) to help make this life-saving opioid overdose reversal drug available when and where it’s most needed in your communities. These boxes can work great on restroom walls, next to first aid kids, in building lobbies, waiting rooms, offices, etc. Basically, everywhere.
If you haven’t signed up your county for the next Save a Life Day (Sep 26th 2024), depending on when you read this — you still can here.
These wall box configurations and sticker designs are all open-source under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial Share-a-Like license. So, you can make your own!
This Creative Commons license means you’re welcome to copy and modify this model as well as the stickers designs as long as you promote the work in a non-commercial manner (i.e. without selling it). We want naloxone to be as accessible as possible for everyone, which is why we’re making the kit design and instructions free and publicly available.
Step 1: Get yourself some pencil cases
To make your own kit, first you must get your hands on some good cases. A case that can hold current nasal naloxone boxes is a Romanoff pencil case. You can order these cases individually via online retailers like K12School Supplies, Target, or Amazon. If you’re interested in wholesale prices, check out the Romanoff company directly (wholesale is where the real savings is!).
In addition to being a good fit for current nasal naloxone boxes, Romanoff pencil cases also have a flat space on the front for a sticker–this is a fairly crucial element. Romanoff pencil cases come in various colors, though yellow has been a color we’ve been working with so far as it matches the Save a Life Day design palette. Perhaps folks will have fun with the other colors, like strawberry, turquoise, or purple. (Some trivia: the Romanoff fruit names are a transparent version of a color [i.e. “lemon” for transparent yellow]).
Step 2: Make stickers and put ’em on!
You can check out all three of the main 5” by 3” sticker designs needed for the case in Canva here (or you can download them all here via Dropbox). As pictured above, the “Emergency Naloxone” design goes on the top of the case (it may seem like you’re putting it on upside-down as when it’s on the wall, the case will open from the top down).
Inside the pencil case, you can use the below design to include adrenaline-proof naloxone instructions, placing it on the other side of the top cover. Remember, if you’d like, you ought to be able to customize/re-visit the “what to do” instructions too with the Canva link shared previously.
In the Canva file, you’ll also see the design below for the inside bottom of the case to point people to the CDC for more information about naloxone. This will go behind the naloxone box itself.
Step 3: Use adhesive stickers for inside/outside
To bring the whole box together, a few adhesives are key.
To help the naloxone gently stick to the inside of the case (and not come flying out when the case is opened), you can use two restickable mounting squares. You can place them on the inside back of the pencil case, on top of both sides of the QR-code design.
As pictured above, we’re mostly using restickable dots [not squares] for the kits we’re sending out for Save a Life Day 2024 since they’re easier to cut up for making kits for you to put together. However, squares are cheaper and a bit better at re-sticking.
For the external back of the pencil case, two of these double-sided sticky pads will do the trick. If you’re using a Romanoff pencil case, place them on the left and right of the slightly elevated bar on the back so it will stick flush with a wall.
Step 4: CPR mask, bonus stuff, & stay in touch!
Including a CPR mask is also clutch. You can purchase bulk masks here.
Consider a local printing shop for help with printing the sticker designs. Here in Charleston, WV: Echo-Lit has been tremendous to work with on prototyping and helping to print these designs.
The SOAR and Save a Life Day team are so excited to see how folks utilize these new naloxone wall boxes on Save a Life Day (Sep 26th 2024) and well beyond. Where will you put the boxes? What stories will they tell? Will you try some design tweaks or other approaches to improve their impact?
Please stay in touch! Use the official hashtag for 2024: #SaveaLifeEast. And always feel free to drop a note to [email protected] & [email protected]!