Youth's overdose death renews pleas for Narcan in schools

“Unfortunately, a horrible incident like this happens and suddenly everyone’s vision is 20/20.”Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said that because of the student's young age, an opioid overdose did not immediately come to mind when the school nurse and first responders, who did have naloxone, treated him.That's why city officials are also proposing more training and curriculum changes aimed at educating staffers, students and community members in substance use awareness and prevention, he said.In response to the student's death, advocacy groups are repeating calls they've made for several years for schools to stock naloxone — often delivered as a nasal spray under the brand name Narcan — and train educators, support staff and students to recognize signs of opioid use and overdoses, especially because younger people are falling victim more frequently.The powerful opioid fentanyl has been showing up in marijuana, illicit pills and other substances accessible to school-age children, experts say. Emergency responders, who were carrying the antidote, revived the student, media reports said.There also is no national data on how many schools have naloxone or drug use awareness training programs that include recognizing the signs of an overdose.In a survey of Pennsylvania school nurses conducted in 2018 and published in 2020, more than half the 362 nurses who responded reported having naloxone in their schools, according to the journal Public Health Nursing.About 5% of the nurses said naloxone had been administered in their school or at a school-sponsored activity.