Narcan now seen as necessary as EpiPen in Bay State schools
More Bay State schools are keeping overdose reversal medication Narcan on hand to combat the deadly opioid epidemic that continues to claim lives locally and nationwide.
The Department of Public Health estimates that half of the 404 school districts in the state now keep Narcan on school grounds, based on numbers gathered last fall. That is up from 133 districts in 2015.
“It’s a rescue drug,” said Dr. Matt Mostofi, associate chief of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Tufts Medical Center. He compared keeping Narcan in schools to having EpiPens on hand in case of an allergic reaction. “I don’t see a downside to having it around. Opioids are a endemic, they’re everywhere.”
Susan Grady, director of clinical services at rehabilitation facility Serenity at Summit New England, said, “I think that the public health crisis of the opioid epidemic is so embedded in our culture at this time, we need to be prepared wherever we are. Where there are people, we need to have the ability to save a life.”
Grady said it’s not only crucial for saving the lives of students, but also for community members going to events hosted in school auditoriums.
“There are kids, parents, visitors, teachers — it doesn’t have a preference to an age group or socioeconomic category,” Grady said. “It’s pretty much across the board.”
Fatal opioid overdoses in Massachusetts fell by 8 percent in 2017 after several years of steadily rising death tolls, according to recent state data, and experts say Narcan has been a key part of that decrease.
Boston EMS numbers show a significant increase in Narcan use over the years. The medication was used a total of 11,134 times for the first three quarters of 2015, compared to 13,785 times for the first three quarters of 2017.