The Blue Valley School District may begin stocking up on naloxone to administer as a medication treatment for opioid overdoses. The district would need to implement a policy change that allows it to stock and administer the drug, which has a brand name of Narcan.
Why it matters: In Johnson County alone, health department officials reported they saw a spike last year in opioid-related overdose deaths, primarily attributed to the illicit opioid fentanyl.
- Opiates were considered the cause of at least 86 deaths in 2021 as investigated by the Johnson County Medical Examiner’s Office, compared to 34 deaths in 2019.
- This includes the death of 16-year-old Cooper Davis, a student in the USD 232 School District in De Soto, who took half a pill not knowing it was laced with fentanyl last summer.
The details: With this revised policy, Blue Valley would begin stocking Narcan in secondary schools for use by trained staff who “reasonably believe an individual is displaying signs and symptoms of overdose.”
- Use of the nasal naloxone would require a call to 911 and notification of parents or legal guardians.
- Blue Valley assistant superintendent Mark Schmidt said that if Narcan is administered to someone who does not have opioids in their system, then it does not have any harmful effects on the individual.
Key quote: “As many of us are aware, Johnson County and Kansas and across the nation really, has had an epidemic of opioid use,” Schmidt said. “By adding this to our policy, we’ll join our neighbors Olathe and Shawnee Mission who also have the ability to administer this life-saving medication.”
Background: Blue Valley is one of the last school districts in Johnson County to consider supplying naloxone, with both Shawnee Mission and Olathe having it in their school buildings.
- Schmidt said that since stocking Narcan, both of those districts have reportedly used it on students multiple times.
What’s next: The Blue Valley school board heard a first reading of the draft policy change at their Monday night meeting.
- Board members will vote on the revisions at their upcoming meeting Monday, Aug. 8.
