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Senate OKs bill for wider naloxone access in schools

By LACIE PIERSON

The Herald-Dispatch

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Senate on Tuesday morning approved 34-0 a bill that would allow teachers and school staff who are certified to carry and administer opioid antagonists in school facilities if they so choose.

Under current state law, licensed school nurses are permitted to carry and administer naloxone if a county board of education permits it.

Senate Bill 36 will advance to the House of Delegates for consideration.

If Gov. Jim Justice signs it into law, SB 36 would expand permission to carry naloxone to all 55 county districts, including private schools, without approval of the local board of education. It also would allow teachers who are properly certified to carry and administer naloxone if they see a student or adult in the school suffering an opioid overdose.

The bill also would require school district officials to keep record of each use of the opioid antagonists, more commonly referred to as naloxone or its brand name, Narcan.

The bill also provides legal protection to nurses and staff who administer naloxone, and school officials would have to notify parents if naloxone was administered to their child at school.

Naloxone is an anti-opioid drug that can reverse the effects of a heroin or pain medication overdose by blocking the depression of brain and respiratory functions that are limited by those drugs.
If SB 36 is signed into law, school districts would be responsible for purchasing their own naloxone, whether through local funds, donations or grants.

All public schools in Cabell County have stocked naloxone since the 2015-16 school year through a waiver from the West Virginia Department of Education, said Jedd Flowers, director of communications for Cabell County Schools.

In September 2016, the West Virginia Board of Education established the policy that allows county boards to determine whether school nurses can carry and administer naloxone.

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