壁咚影院

In response to the growing opioid crisis among teens,聽Palo Alto Unified School District will be stocking school聽campuses with opioid antagonist naloxone hydrochloride,聽a medication for narcotic overdoses in emergency聽situations, and implementing voluntary trainings to聽equip staff members with skills to identify and respond聽to overdoses this month.

Pursuant to California Education Code 49414.3, the聽staff trainings will include techniques for recognizing聽symptoms of an overdose; standards and procedures for聽the storage, restocking and emergency use of Narcan;聽and basic emergency follow-up procedures, among聽other practices. According to District Health Services聽Coordinator Rosemarie Dowell, the county has also聽equipped 壁咚影院 with 122 kits of Narcan, which will be聽distributed across all school campuses, as well as Greendell聽Preschool, Cubberley Community Center and the district聽office. Inside each kit will be two doses of Narcan,聽guidelines on how to administer it, cardiopulmonary聽respiration face masks and gloves. These kits will be聽placed in a variety of locations across the campuses, from聽emergency carts in health offices to automated external聽defibrillators mounted on walls.

According to Dowell, although the California Education聽Code was altered in January 2017 to allow for the聽administration of Narcan on school campuses, many聽districts鈥攊ncluding 壁咚影院鈥攄ecided not to move forward聽with opioid antagonist trainings because city emergency聽services could be counted upon to arrive quickly enough聽to intervene in the event of an overdose.

Still, rising overdose rates, particularly in the teen聽population, prompted action. The pandemic saw a surge聽in fatal adolescent drug overdoses: A report from the聽Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that聽median monthly overdose deaths among adolescents聽more than doubled from July to December 2019 to July to聽December 2021, and 84% of the deaths involved illicitly聽manufactured fentanyls. According to the California聽Department of Public Health, the annual crude mortality聽rate for opioid overdoses in Santa Clara County in 2021聽increased by 73% from 2019. 鈥淚n the past couple (of)聽years, there has been a growing discussion about being聽more proactive,鈥� Dowell said. 鈥淭he county has had a big聽discussion on that, on really pushing for getting more聽education (and) being prepared.鈥�

On Dec. 20, 2022, the school board updated its聽medication policy鈥擝oard Policy 5141.21鈥攖o reflect聽existing California School Board Association language聽regarding Narcan, which allowed district health services聽to move forward with implementing trainings and聽distributing kits. According to Safety, Security and聽Disaster Preparedness Manager Mike Jacobs, distribution聽of Narcan kits is expected to be completed by mid to late聽March. Trainings will begin in March and will continue as聽needed throughout the year. In addition to these initiatives,聽the district will also be holding a fentanyl awareness聽event on March 22 to educate students and parents on聽the issue and to distribute kits of Narcan to them.

These recent developments at the district level have聽made the severity of the opioid crisis clear. Synthetic聽opioids are often more potent than their natural brethren,聽meaning that even a tiny dose can be fatal. It鈥檚 often聽difficult to tell the difference between a drug and its聽fentanyl-laced counterpart, so if users unknowingly ingest聽contaminated drugs, they can easily overdose. According聽to the same report from the CDC, evidence of counterfeit聽pills was found in 25% of adolescent overdose deaths.聽鈥淔entanyl-filled pills are being sold in many forms and all聽look exactly like legitimate pharmaceuticals,鈥� Jacobs wrote聽in an email. 鈥淭he amount of fentanyl needed to overdose is聽equivalent to two grains of sand. In short, one pill can kill.鈥�

Most of the time, these counterfeit pills aren鈥檛聽prescribed, but instead bought on the street or on social聽media. Physical education teacher Amy Anderson recalled聽the death of her friend鈥檚 son, Carlmont High School senior聽Colin Walker, in 2021. According to Anderson, Walker聽began using cannabis to self-medicate as he struggled with聽mental health during the pandemic, eventually moving聽on to harder drugs. He died after ingesting fentanyl-laced聽cocaine bought off of Snapchat. 鈥�(His parents) were not聽condoning their son鈥檚 drug use, but the bottom line is聽(that) what he purchased off of Snapchat was not what he聽asked for,鈥� she said.

Given the insidious nature of the counterfeit pills,聽students and teachers alike have advocated for greater聽drug education. Living Skills teacher Jeanette Tucker聽emphasized the importance of repeated instruction on the聽issue. 鈥淵ou just need to hear it more than once,鈥� she said.聽鈥淥bviously, your parents are going to tell you that. But if聽your guidance counselors are doing a show or presentation聽(and) your SELF class talks about it, (it sinks in).鈥�

Some, such as junior Prianka Rao, have also pointed to聽education about drug medication as a way to counteract聽fatal overdoses. 鈥淪ay you鈥檙e at a party and someone shows聽up under the influence of opiates and there鈥檚 an overdose,鈥澛爏he said. 鈥淵ou could be the person that could prevent聽someone from dying.鈥�

Still, stigma often proves to be a roadblock to聽conversations about drugs. According to Tucker, the聽mischaracterization of drug use as a conscious choice聽rather than an uncontrollable addiction often results in a聽victim-blaming narrative, something Rao has also seen.聽鈥淧eople at Gunn aren鈥檛 strangers to the fact that kids are聽doing drugs, but they鈥檙e (mostly) talking about smoking聽weed,鈥� Rao said. 鈥淭hings like addiction and hard drug use聽don鈥檛 really make sense to them. It鈥檚 kind of like, 鈥榃hoa,聽that鈥檚 scary and extreme, that鈥檚 effed up, why are you doing聽that?鈥� And it seems like 鈥榊ou鈥檙e crazy鈥� rather than, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e聽not crazy, you鈥檙e struggling.鈥欌��

Nevertheless, Dowell notes that the community has聽become increasingly open to conversations in the past聽few years. 鈥淚鈥檝e had students that have reached out saying,聽鈥楬ey, when are we going to have some Narcan and have聽some more education?鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had more parents聽bring up the discussions. We鈥檝e had the support of board聽members like (Jesse) Ladomirak. We鈥檙e in a really nice聽time now where there鈥檚 a lot of support for this.鈥�

According to Rao, this support is especially important聽given the gravity of the issue. 鈥淵ou never know when you鈥檙e聽going to see someone in that situation, even if they鈥檙e not聽your friend or they鈥檙e not you,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something聽that everyone should know in this day and age because the聽fentanyl epidemic is getting so bad and out of hand. Just聽because it doesn鈥檛 apply to you doesn鈥檛 mean it鈥檚 not really聽important to know鈥攊t could save someone鈥檚 life.鈥�