Sarah Nolan

Staff Writer, @sarnolan

ALLENDALE — The nurse and athletic director at Northern Highlands Regional High School will soon be permitted to administer a potentially life-saving opioid antidote in the event that a person overdoses on school grounds.

The pair will receive training from the county and by April be able to administer naloxone, which is commonly referred to by its brand name Narcan. Naloxone is a prescription medicine that blocks the effects of opioids such as heroin and reverses an overdose.

The change is part of an opioid antidote policy adopted by the district Board of Education on Monday. Under the policy, school officials are to immediately call 911 in the event of an overdose on school grounds. Any student that receives an opioid antidote will then be transported to the nearest hospital with a school staff member. A parent or family member will be notified.

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Superintendent Scot Beckerman said an overdose has never occurred on school grounds, but it would be “shortsighted for the district not to consider the what ifs.”

“Heroin is an issue, not just in New Jersey, but across the country,” he said. “Our hope is that [the opioid antidote] is never necessary, but ultimately trained individuals will be available to us if we ever need it.”

The policy is not mandated, but encouraged as part of the state’s Overdose Prevention Act, which supports wider prescription and distribution of an opioid antidote to prevent overdose.

A rise in heroin and opioid painkiller overdose deaths prompted Gov. Chris Christie to declare opioid drug abuse a public health crisis earlier this year.

According to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Officer, there were 81 overdose fatalities in the county in 2014 and 87 in both 2015 and 2016. County law enforcement began deploying Narcan in August 2014.

That year, police administered Narcan to overdose victims 24 times. Narcan deployments by law enforcement officials increased to 187 in 2015 and 207 in 2016, according to figures from the Prosecutor’s Office.

The state Department of Education informed school districts that they may develop and adopt policies and procedures to maintain and administer an opioid antidote to any student, school employee, or other person believed to be experiencing an opioid overdose during school hours or during on-site school-sponsored activities.

Belleville and Wallington adopted policies earlier this year. South Hackensack has introduced a policy that is to be voted on March 13.

New Jersey School Boards Association spokeswoman Janet Bamford said that while the organization does not keep track of which school districts have adopted opioid antidote policies, in the last year about two dozen districts have requested the association's sample policy on the topic. The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office began distributing Narcan to nurses at all county high schools last year, according to a report in the Asbury Park Press.

Beckerman said he believes more districts will move toward adopting the policy. He said the philosophy of some schools is that the police and other emergency officials are just a phone call away. However, he said it can only help if a school official is able to administer the antidote before emergency personnel are able to get to an overdose victim.

Email: nolan@northjersey.com