In the nurse’s office, a small white box with bright fuschia lettering rests in a clear bag on the corner of the medical supplies cabinet. But this box, no bigger than one made for bandages, reads “Narcan” and contains a medication with the potential to save lives.
As defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Narcan, the nasal spray form of naloxone, is a life-saving medication which blocks or reverses the effects of opioid overdose within minutes of the crisis, and is now supplied in the three nurses offices around Lab’s campus as a backup tool in case of an urgent, drug-related emergency.
In 2015, the Illinois Department of Public Health enacted Public Act 99-0480, expanding access to naloxone and requiring entities administering the medication to be trained in opioid overdose reversal. From there, access to the medication has grown to schools and public libraries.
According to Laboratory Schools lead nurse Kristen Szewczyk, the Public Health Department’s authorization of naloxone within schools prompted the nurse’s office to add it this year to their approach to overdose.
“After that, we decided to stock it, just to have another tool in our emergency medication toolkit that’s already available to treat anyone that we have that is suspected of having an overdose on opioids,” Ms. Szewczyk said. “It’s already free and readily accessible to the public near us, even at Blackstone library in Hyde Park, and now it’s available on campus, too.”
Narcan can be found in the lower school, high school and early childhood nurses offices. Though Ms. Szewczyk believes use of the medication is unlikely at Lab, every nurse is trained to administer it if overdose symptoms are present, such as shallow breathing and small pupils.
“It’s another way for us nurses to be prepared. I mean, that is a big part of our job, in addition to seeing ourselves as one of the big advocates of public health,” Ms. Szewczyk said. “As a measure of protecting public health, we want to be prepared to treat anything that comes our way.”
Naloxone: What to know about the medicine
- What is Naloxone?
- Naloxone, an “opioid receptor antagonist,” is a life-saving medicine that is used to rapidly reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, and can quickly restore breathing to someone who has overdosed on substances like fentanyl or heroin.
- What does it look like?
- Narcan, a brand name, is a nasal-spray version of Naloxone that has recently been approved for over-the-counter purchase in drug stores. It looks similar to other nasal inhalers for medications.
- Is Naloxone difficult to administer?
- It can be used fairly easily by people who have taken a brief time to learn how. Officials say people should always call 911 for assistance, as well as administering the medicine.
- What if Naloxone is given to someone who isn’t actually overdosing on opioids?
- Naloxone is relatively safe, federal officials say. They say it will not harm people who turn out not to have been overdosing on an opioid in the first place.
- Who gives Naloxone?
- With more than 100,000 people in the United States dying of overdoses last year, many people have begun to administer Naloxone, in its form as a nasal spray and also as an injectable, including doctors, nurses, law enforcement officers, emergency medical workers and ordinary residents.
— compiled by Clare McRoberts
