Covington Independent Schools will begin stocking district facilities with emergency boxes of the opioid antagonist Narcan this year.
Narcan, or naloxone as it’s officially called, is a medicine used for reviving people who’ve overdosed on heroin, fentanyl and other opioids, and it soon will be available throughout district facilities, said Covington Independent Schools Director of Health Services Jennifer Fowee at a school board meeting on Thursday.
“When we saw that this was probably coming in the board policy, we went ahead and started being proactive about it,” Fowee said. “Our nurses went through training on administration and then training others.”
Fowee said that 95 staff members throughout the district, including the school nurses, are already trained on administering Narcan.
“It’s just a matter of getting it in our buildings at this point,” Fowee said.
The Narcan distribution program is administered by the Northern Kentucky Health Department. The department first began rolling out the program over the summer when its medical director signed a standing order to provide Narcan kits to schools if they had approval from their districts’ school boards.
Covington Independent and Campbell County Schools are the first two districts in the region to get school board approval for the program, and six other districts are currently in the process of getting approval.
“We provide the schools with the boxes, which can be mounted on the wall, and stock them with a naloxone kit, rubber glove and a mask should CPR/mouth-to-mouth resuscitation be required,” the health department said in an email.
The department also provides training and refills any boxes once they’re used. The program comes at direct cost to the schools.
“I think it’s a great idea,” said Board Member Glenda Huff.
“I think it’s an awesome idea,” said Board Member Kareem Simpson, “especially with training and partnering with some of our community partners.”
The Northern Kentucky Health Department also distributes Narcan to other businesses and locations throughout the region. Click here to view an interactive map that shows where in the region you can find Narcan.
Learn more about the Northern Kentucky Health Department’s addiction services by visiting their website.