BILLINGS - Fentanyl continues to be a problem all across the country, the state and in Billings.
To combat that and to help save lives, Narcan has been put in many places.
As a precaution, School District 2 has placed trauma kits in all the schools and those kits include Narcan in case of a fentanyl overdose.
“It is a true life-saving measure that we can take,” said Joe Halligan, school safety & emergency management coordinator for the Billings Public Schools. “Very simple to administer. Relatively cheap.“
Halligan says some school workers have been trained to administer Narcan.
“If any staff member or student encounters a person who is unconscious, not breathing, maybe their lips are blue, they just look like they're in distress, and then because staff knows where these items are located, then they would essentially go right to the trauma kit, grab the Narcan and administer the dose as quickly as they possibly could,” Halligan said.
The trauma kits have been in schools for about six years, with Narcan the last three.
And the Attorney General's office has added Narcan to all Montana high schools and middle schools.
“Once Narcan is administered obviously, we do alert 9-1-1 immediately or simultaneously,” Halligan said.
“It's absolutely important to have Narcan in the schools,” said Chyrel Garding, Rimrock Foundation manager of business development and community outreach.
Garding has helped people overcome addiction and she knows that Narcan can reverse the fentanyl or opioid overdose.
“When you overdose on an opiate, your respiratory system shuts down, you stop breathing, all of those things stop," Garding said. "Your heart stops beating. The administration of Narcan in a fast amount of time can literally reverse the effects of that overdose in your body.”
Narcan is free at the Rimrock Foundation and some other places around Billings because it can save lives.
“It's talking to our young people,” Garding said. “It's letting them know like you don't know what you're getting, don't take drugs from someone that you don't know or even if it's from your friends.
The schools are also equipped with automated external defibrillators (AED), another life-saving device to go along with Narcan.
"We can be proactive with the trauma kits with the Narcan, with the AEDs, with the training that we're providing,” Halligan said. “We're going to jump on that opportunity every chance we get.”
