In response to the opioid crisis that has come to affect the youth, Washington State made a law requiring that public schools in WA with 2,000+ students, provide NARCAN.
“There’s probably more than we know that struggle,” Principal Jolene Grimes said. One of the most common culprits of these overdoses is Fentanyl. It is an opioid that is used as pain relief for people with chronic or severe pain as well as pain following surgeries. It is incredibly strong.
“Approximately 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin as an analgesic,” The United States Drug Enforcement Administration said. Fentanyl is very dangerous when being used without a prescription. 5-7 grains of salt is enough to kill someone, meaning death is possible upon first use. When another drug is laced with fentanyl, such as cocaine, their chemicals don’t mix well. When this happens they might get a large amount of fentanyl, most likely much more than 5-7 grains of salt, which is definitely enough to kill someone.
While fentanyl and many other misused opioids are a sad truth of the world, there is something that can be done to prevent overdoses: NARCAN.
NARCAN (naloxone) is a medicine that abruptly reverses an opioid overdose. It attaches to the opioid receptors and reverses the effect of the opioid, as well as blocking others. NARCAN also has no negative effects on someone who isn’t having an overdose, it reverses opioid overdoses effectively, with no harm if administered mistakenly. In order for NARCAN to be effective, one dose needs to be administered, and after a certain amount of time a second dose is required if said person is still unconscious.
In response to the opioid crisis that has come to affect the youth, Washington State made a law requiring that public schools in WA with 2,000+ students, provide NARCAN. They also require schools to have specialized programs serving high school students across the state. Not only having NARCAN available, but also having resources to get students on a path towards sobriety, is very important and useful for schools to have. However, Neils Beck, an Emergency Department attending physician, argues that because many schools have under 2,000 people, including Nathan Hale, that the required number should be lowered.
“Definitely lower that threshold! Narcan is essentially a harmless compound and it’s much more often used to save lives out of the hospital than it is in the ER,” Beck said. He spoke about how he attends to many patients aged 18 and under, and that the issue of overdose is definitely present in youth. In response to the amount of young people he sees struggling with drug use, he says:
“Way too many. If we’re talking under 18, I’d say most are runaways living on the street. We also get plenty of kids from privileged backgrounds and from seemingly stable households,” Beck said.
From a health professional’s perspective, it is shown that NARCAN is something that is very useful, and relevant to the youth. In the Seattle School district, it is required that all staff complete an annual Opioid Overdose Response training, which includes the use of NARCAN. All school sites that are a part of SPS are additionally required to be stocked with doses of NARCAN, yet many students aren’t aware of this.
At Nathan Hale we have NARCAN supplied in our Teen Health Center, and it is available to students, but those who struggle may not feel comfortable asking for it.
“I would say it’s less common that kids come in and say ‘I use drugs and I’m concerned about it and I want to reduce,’” Teen Health Nurse Practitioner, Crista Langston said.
“We have a lot of forms that ask about drug use like for sports physical or other general kinds of visits that we have.” She said.
The main idea that Langston expresses is that the majority of students that struggle with drug use don’t feel comfortable coming up to an adult and asking for help. The resources that schools provide seem to be what students lean on the most, and the more programs and resources that students are able to see, the more help students seem to get.
“I come from a place where we should have resources available to students and we should also have avenues and access points for students to be able to have trusted adults in schools, either through our community health centers, or counselors, or administrators,” Principal Grimes said.
According to Langston, there are no negative consequences to having NARCAN on hand, or using it on oneself as well as others. Even if people do not personally use opioids, NARCAN is such a huge lifesaver, that carrying it can save a life when it’s least expected.
“It’s totally safe for students to carry in their backpack, it’s not something that they would get in trouble for, and it really can save a life,” Langston said.
