Camden County schools to have emergency opioid overdose kit
BLACKWOOD, N.J. (CBS) -- Every Camden County school will have an emergency opioid overdose kit containing several doses of the overdose-reversal drug Naloxone, county leaders announced in a Thursday afternoon news conference.
The kits will be placed in a red box, similar to an emergency defibrillator, and mounted to the wall in an accessible area of the school.
The initiative comes months after a 12-year-old boy died on a school bus after, investigators alleged, he was exposed to fentanyl in his uncle's house.
Camden County Prosecutor Grace MacAulay said her office is seeing more cases where teenagers are overdosing or being exposed to fentanyl-laced drugs.
"I know what many people think, it's not going to happen to me, it's not going to happen to my friends, doesn't happen in my family," MacAulay said. "I have to tell you that's wrong."
The initiative will place more than 250 kits in every school by Oct. 31.
Teachers, administrators and staff will be trained on how to use these emergency kits in November.
