Opioid overdoses are declining across the DC region. What’s behind the trend?
It s been over two years since a large group gathered outside Wakefield High School holding colorful signs They had messages in both English and Spanish hoping to show help to students at the Arlington Virginia school Particular hoped for increased safety and new rules The event came days after Sergio Flores a novice at the school was suspected to have overdosed in a school bathroom in early He later died The episode prompted Arlington General Schools leaders to change their approach in response to a troubling rise in youth overdoses They allowed students to carry Narcan the opioid overdose reversal medication and emphasized to students just how dangerous substance use can be It s been a inadequate years since school districts across the D C region started hosting group meetings having teachers and other staff trained in how to administer Narcan and educating students about the dangers of opioids and other drugs at a younger age Now overdoses among young people appear to be falling according to a WTOP analysis of local records The global altitude of this predicament has really affected so multiple people that students in our classrooms are going to know somebody who s been affected by the opioid predicament disclosed Jenny Sexton a substance abuse counselor in Arlington General Schools So helping them understand the evidence and how that connects them to the reality of this happening right in their hometown That approach has produced positive results There were juvenile overdoses two of which were fatal in Arlington in according to police input There were two overdoses overall both nonfatal last year As of this summer there haven t been any in Staff members in Arlington are trained on administering naloxone the opioid overdose reversal medication and students hear about substances as young as third grade The division hosts group presentations and distributed Narcan to parents in drop-off lines twice last year at high schools The biggest challenge Sexton announced was getting people not to fear Narcan The initial concern was causing harm to someone Sexton explained What if I hurt somebody by giving it to them Or what if it doesn t work Am I liable for that ' Nearby Fairfax County is reporting similarly positive trends There weren t any fatal overdoses among kids and younger last year down from five in There weren t any overdoses that occurred during school hours or school-sanctioned initiatives last year either compared to six during what the district considered its peak year However it remains a challenge In a message to families last week superintendent Michelle Reid commented a scholar in the West Springfield locality died of an overdose outside of school It s still a difficulty in the sense that there are still youth who use fentanyl and fentanyl continues to be the primary opioid responsible for fatal and nonfatal overdoses in Fairfax County stated Michael Axler Fairfax County Masses Schools director of intervention and prevention services However holistically we re definitely seeing that fewer youth are being impacted by fentanyl certainly in the calendar year compared to Related stories Northern Va students launch website to encourage discussion about controversial topics Leave our kids alone Schools reopen in DC with parents on edge over Trump s armed patrols We re with them DC students head back to school amid Trump s law enforcement surge Virginia s largest school district keeps naloxone in every school AED cabinet and clinic and Axler declared there are expanded rehabilitation options for young people All staff including athletic coaches and trainers and prevention personnel are trained to administer naloxone and school leaders helped parents learn how to talk to their kids about the sensitive issue We unfailingly have to remember that we re dealing with people and so if we say we ve reduced it by there s still a percentage who are being affected by it Axler declared Meanwhile it s been over two years since a cluster of suspected overdoses involving Loudoun County General Schools students prompted Gov Glenn Youngkin to issue an executive order on the subject The move outlined a time requirement for school systems to notify parents of a suspected overdose In there were juvenile overdoses in the county according to sheriff s department statistics In there were six So far this year there have been two including one fatal overdose In Loudoun students hear from families who have lost loved ones to an overdose All staff are trained to administer Naloxone and students can carry it with a parent s permission The district boosted the number of attendee assistant specialists who have an expertise in substance use and assessment and boosted parent engagement It was coming in here manufactured and kids weren t realizing what they were getting explained Jennifer Evans Loudoun County schools director of learner mental wellness services And I do think the pharmaceutical companies have a role in that and what they were prescribing or how much they re prescribing and families have a role in that locking up medication so kids can t get to it So there s so multiple layers to that but I do think there was a lack of information about fentanyl out there In D C there have been deadly overdoses among all ages in the last months compared to in the previous according to input from the Office of the Chief Anatomical Examiner Ginny Atwood co-founder of the Fairfax-based Chris Atwood Foundation disclosed naloxone becoming available over the counter and improved access to cure for opioid-use disorder have likely helped contribute to the declines A lot of times if somebody revives a friend they re not going to the state to document the overdose reversal So we really truly don t have a very good idea of how various people are surviving overdoses behind closed doors Atwood explained It s still a issue Atwood commented It s still something we should be talking about In Part of WTOP s Fighting Fentanyl series a couple from Fairfax County speaks out after losing their son to an overdose Source
