Middle and high school students in Lewiston will begin learning how to administer the nasal spray overdose reversal drug naloxone this week.
A state law passed last year dictates that the training include standards from a nationally recognized program and be taught by a qualified instructor during the school day or as an extracurricular activity.
“We have naloxone on site. We have a distribution plan. We have adults trained to provide training to students,” said Jake Langlais, Superintendent of Lewiston Public Schools. “We reached out to families because there’s an opt-out component to this and some families don’t want their child trained in that.”
Under the new law, all public schools must offer naloxone education to secondary students in addition to CPR and defibrillator training.
This article appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.