YUHSD board recognizes staff who helped save OD’d students
About a dozen staff members from Yuma Union High School District were recognized and honored during Wednesday’s board meeting for saving the lives of students who had overdosed.
“The people that you see before you all worked together on their campus with a student and performed lifesaving techniques to keep those students alive that were struggling through the influence of fentanyl at the time,” said Superintendent Gina Thompson.
Staffers from San Luis High School, Yuma High School and Vista Alternative School were present to be thanked and congratulated for their bravery.
Doyle Stanley, a nurse at San Luis High School, was one of the staff members recognized at Wednesday’s meeting.
He said that when the overdose occured, he got a call from security that a student had collapsed in class.
“As soon as I hear that, for a person that young, it’s kind of instantaneously going to be either an opioid overdose or they were struck or something like that and knocked out,” he said.
After getting there, he noticed that the student’s pupils were constricted and their breathing was slow, two tell-tale signs of an opioid overdose. He then administered Narcan, a drug that can reverse the deadly effects of narcotics, and waited for paramedics to arrive while continuing to monitor the student’s breathing.
Robert Chouinard, principal at Yuma High, was also among those being recognized.
“We had a student, we were taking an ACT test, and the student was sleeping in class and the teacher went up to wake him up and, non-responsive,” said Chouinard.
He said that Assistant Principal Delia Castro happened to be nearby, and immediately called 911 and radioed him.
After Chouinard came into the classroom, the student was still unresponsive. He then removed him from the desk, laid him on the floor and Castro began performing chest compressions.
“As we were getting ready to put the AED (automated external defibrillator) pad on him, rescue walked in,” Chouinard said. “We had the Narcan ready to go, we had everything ready to go and then rescue came in and then took over.”
Chouinard said that a similar situation with an overdose a week before had prepared him for what happened that day.
“Thank God all the stars lined up and we had four staff members in the general area and they got into action and took care of things,” he said. “One called 911 right away, the other one removed the students.
“Having it happen a week prior, we were on guard.”
This recognition in front of the governing board comes on the heels of a number of overdoses across the county that have been linked to counterfeit oxycodone pills that contain fentanyl.
Board member David Lara expressed his concern about what he considers a crisis during the meeting.
“I’m trying to find the right word to explain how bad the situation really is,” Lara said. “Unfortunately one of the major problems with the fentanyl is, and the parents said it, the police department said it and the fire department said it, kids that live in Mexico are bringing drugs across.”
Lara also requested Wednesday to revisit a resolution that would urge the city of San Luis to adopt an ordinance banning minors from traveling across the border.
The board voted down the resolution last year.
“Not to downplay what’s going on in our community, it’s a horrible situation and we’re all affected,” said Board President Phil Townsend. “I’ve been affected in my own family and it’s a horrible thing, but we can’t revisit every decision we make.”