The Illinois Department of Public Health says schools should have medications on hand to reverse an overdose. They don’t need a prescription and school nurses can administer opioid agonists.

Overdose reversal medications are at train stations and in vending machines. They are available over the counter and now the drugs will be required in Illinois schools.

And now, there’s not one but two medications that fit the bill to potentially save lives.

Dr Jenna Nikolaide is the Director of Substance Use Intervention at Rush.

“We actually have a huge increase in teen death from overdose and we know the substances are being distributed and passed among teens,” she said. “So we have seen almost deaths where they get rescued by Narcan and they survive. But it’s much better if they have Narcan quicker. So the Narcan needs to be where teenagers are.”

School students may not intend to use powerful opioids, but recreational drugs are often laced with other more powerful ingredients, making the danger even greater.

“The reason why the death rate has skyrocketed between 10 and 19 is because kids don’t have an opioid tolerance,” Nikolaide said. “So the drugs being passed around school are usually counterfeit pills. So kids might think, ‘Oh I’ve had a norco or Vicodin.’ But they don’t realize it is fake and made of fentanyl pressed into a pill. So when they take it, it is an immediate overdose.”

Naloxone is the gold standard shot used to reverse and overdose

“Narcan is an antagonist meaning it displaces the opioid in the body. So if you have an opioid in you that is poisoning you, Narcan comes in and kicks it out of the receptor and reverses it,” Nikolaide said.

Now add Nalmefene.

“It’s basically the same but much longer acting,” Nikolaide said.

The added drug helps reduce the risk of a growing problem. In the last school year, school personnel administered an opioid agonist to ten students who appeared to be overdosing.

“ We’ve been giving Narcan out to community and patients and families for a long time now. Putting it in schools makes absolute sense. It should have already been there,” Nikolaide said. “What we do know is that overdoses are rising and rising dramatically in teen population dramatically.”

If Narcan or Nalmefene is given to a person who is actually having another medical crisis and not a drug overdose, it will not cause any harm. That’s why experts in addiction medicine believe everyone should carry it and potentially save a life.