FAIRBORN, Ohio (WDTN) — A school district becomes the first in Greene County to equip it’s building with an overdose-reversing drug.
Fairborn City Schools will now keep 20 Narcan kits in each of its four buildings.
Greene County Public Health officials said there have been no overdoses at Fairborn City Schools, but the district is trying to be proactive in case an overdose does happen on school grounds.
“We could have somebody bring into our school a large quantity of something that they think is something that it’s really not, and all of a sudden, we overwhelm first responders,” Fairborn City Schools Director of Safety Bill Titely said. “So we wanted to make sure we were able to help if that was the case.”
Narcan, also known as naloxone, works by blocking the effects of opioids on the brain and quickly restores breathing.
“In Ohio, we do see more fentanyl here than anything, and it just takes so little to overdose that if it is accidentally mixed in when someone’s making these pills and that’s all it’ll take is just a few granules for someone to overdose.” Greene County Public Health Educator and Coordinator Melody Kingsley said.
Kingsly said schools having kits on hand can save lives because it only takes minutes for some to die from an overdose after oxygen is cut off to the brain.
“We really want a bystander to be able to help out until EMS arrive,” Kingsley said.
On the Fairborn Fire Department firetrucks, there are only four doses of overdose medication available, so the district says the schools having it in supply could help first responders.
The Narcan the district is receiving is provided for free from the DAWN program of Greene County Public Health Harm Reduction. DAWN, Deaths Avoided With Naloxone, will be within the district and staff will undergo training for any possible usage of the medication.
Some scenarios listed in the release include if a student intentionally ingests an opioid, a visitor knowingly takes an opioid or if staff or many students are exposed to and ingest an opioid.
Akron, Dublin, Lisbon and Toledo already have the opioid reverser inside of their schools.
