Clintonville takes no action on Narcan

Schools will not have overdose-reversal drug

By Bert Lehman

The Clintonville School Board discussed the possibility of having Narcan on-hand on school grounds, but ultimately took no action.

The discussion took place when the school board met May 8. One reason no action was taken was due to the lack of school personnel who are trained to administer the drug.

Narcan is a nasal spray used to treat narcotic overdoses in emergency situations. The Food and Drug Administration approved over-the-counter sales of Narcan in March.

Superintendent Troy Kuhn said police officers have Narcan on them, and normally there is a police officer in the area of the schools.

“It’s not that we don’t have Narcan available, it is available, and they (police) are trained to use it,” Kuhn said.

He added that if the district had Narcan on school grounds, the only person within the district who is currently trained to use it is the district’s physical trainer.

Kuhn told the board if it wanted the school nurse to be trained on how to use Narcan, that could happen. He added that he would not recommend Narcan be stored within the AED machines. Rather, it should be locked in the school’s medicine cabinet.

“Now, what if you (need to) have the use of Narcan at a sporting event, and only the nurse has the key to the medicine cabinet?” Kuhn asked. “Now you’re calling a police officer.”

Board member Laurie Vollrath said she doesn’t think the district is ready to have Narcan stored in the schools.

Board member Jason Moder agreed.

Kuhn said the district is not liable if it does not have Narcan at the school.

“This is something that has been talked about in the superintendent world, and I just want to make sure that I’m not making the decision to put it in the AEDs or something, and all of a sudden they’re getting stolen,” Kuhn said.