School Nurses’ New Tool To Combat Opioid Overdoses
In public schools in New York, school nurses are stocking up on naloxone to help students who overdose on school time, thanks to a new state law. In Florida, heroin addiction is taking an inordinate amount of police officers' time.
NPR/Side Effects Media:
School Nurses Stock Drug To Reverse Opioid Overdoses
AnneMarie Zagari found her teenage son unresponsive on the couch after he took too many opioid painkillers in 2011. She began pounding his chest and slapping his face, and finally succeeded in reviving him by giving him CPR. It was a terrifying moment. And that panic wouldn't have been necessary if she'd had access to the drug naloxone (also known as Narcan), which can instantly reverse an overdose. (Faust, 9/16)
Health News Florida:
Heroin Straining Those Who Protect, Treat
Manatee County, on Florida's west coast, is home to more than 300,000 people. It's known for its beaches, and if you go just a short distance inland, you'll pass by the iconic fruit stands and working citrus groves. "This is a really fabulous place to live. We have a lot of great things going on here,” said Melissa Larkin-Skinner, who has lived in Manatee County since the age of 3. “I grew up here and I love it." But as the chief clinical officer at Centerstone, the only in-patient detox facility in Manatee County, she sees her hometown starting to be well known for something else -- hundreds of overdoses and dozens of people dying from heroin. (Watts, 9/16)