5141.213 - Administering Medication - Naloxone

5141.213 Students

Administering Medication

Opioid Overdose Prevention (Emergency Administration of Naloxone)

The Board of Education (Board) recognizes that many factors, including the use and misuse of prescription painkillers, can lead to the dependence on and addiction to opioids, and that such dependence and addiction can lead to overdose and death among the general public, including District students and staff. The Board wants to minimize these deaths by the use of opioid overdose prevention measures.

Definitions

Drug overdose means an acute medical condition, including, but not limited to, severe physical illness, coma, mania, hysteria or death, which is the result of consumption or use of one or more controlled substances causing an adverse reaction. The signs of opioid overdose include unresponsiveness; nonconsciousness; shallow breathing with rate less than 10 breaths per minute or not breathing at all; blue or gray face, especially fingernails and lips; and loud, uneven snoring or gurgling noises.

Naloxone (Narcan) means a medication that can reverse an overdose caused by an opioid drug. As a narcotic antagonist, Naloxone displaces opiates from receptor sites in the brain and reverses respiratory depression that usually is the cause of overdose deaths.

Opioid means illegal drugs such as heroin, as well as prescription medications used to treat pain such as morphine, codeine, methadone, oxycodone (OxyContin, Percodan, Percocet), hydrocodone (Vicodin), fentanyl, hydromorphone (Dilaudid), and buprenorphine.

Delegation of Responsibility

The Superintendent or his/her designee, in consultation with the school nurse supervisor and the District Medical Advisor shall establish appropriate internal procedures for the acquisition, stocking and administration of Naloxone (Narcan) and related emergency response procedures pursuant to this policy.

The District Medical Advisor shall be the prescribing and supervising medical professional for the District's stocking and use of Naloxone (Narcan). The Superintendent or his/her designee shall obtain a standing order from the District Medical Advisor for the administration of Naloxone (Narcan).

The standing order shall be maintained in the Superintendent's office and copies of the standing order shall be kept in each location where Naloxone is stored.

The school nurse shall be responsible for building-level administration and management of Naloxone and management of Naloxone stocks. Each school nurse and any other individual(s) authorized by the Superintendent shall be trained in the administration of Naloxone.

Acquisition, Storage and Disposal

Naloxone shall be safely stored in the school nurse's office or other location designated by the school nurse in accordance with the drug manufacturer's instructions.

The school nurse shall obtain sufficient supplies of Naloxone pursuant to the standing order in the same manner as other medical supplies acquired for the school health program. The school nurse or designee shall regularly inventory and refresh Naloxone stocks, and maintain records thereof. In accordance with internal procedures, manufacturer's recommendations and any applicable Department of Public Health guidelines.

(cf. 5141 - Administering Medications)

Legal Reference: Connecticut General Statutes 

10-212 School nurses and nurse practitioners. Administration of medications by parents or guardians on school grounds. Criminal history; records check.

10-212a Administration of medications in schools. (as amended by PA 99-2, and June Special Session and PA 03-211, PA 04-181, PA 07-241, PA 07-252, PA 09-155, PA 12-198, PA 14-176 and PA 15-215)

17a-714 Immunity for prescribing, dispensing or administering an opioid antagonist to treat or prevent a drug overdose.

21a-279(g)Penalty for illegal possession. Alternate sentences. Immunity.

52-557b Immunity from liability for emergency medical assistance first aid or medication by injection. School personnel not required to administer or render. (as amended by PA 05-144, An Act Concerning the Emergency Use of Cartridge Injectors)

Connecticut Regulations of State Agencies 10-212a-1 through 10-212a-10, inclusive, as amended.

PA 15-198: An Act Concerning Substance Abuse and Opioid Overdose Prevention

PA 16-43: An Act Concerning Opioids and Access to Overdose Reversal Drugs

Policy Adopted: March 2022