Middlesex County DA Sponsors Narcan Training for School Personnel

By ADAM SWIFT (Patch Staff)

On Tuesday, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan sponsored a free training in Woburn for school nurses, athletic directors and coaches on how to use the drug NasalNaloxone, also known as Narcan, for the treatment of opioid overdoses. The training is part of the office’s ongoing commitment to address the opioid epidemic in Middlesex County.

“This training will equip school personnel with the skills to render life-saving aid to people who need it, especially the young people in their communities that they interact with on a daily basis,” said Ryan.

Today’s training is the third hosted by Ryan as part of the: “Another Chance: Reversing the Effects of Opiate Overdoses” train-the-trainer initiative. Previous trainings have been offered to first responders including police, fire and EMS officials. The trainings are open to individuals in all Middlesex County communities.

The training convened by District Attorney Ryan on Tuesday included an in-depth medical educational tutorial led by Dr. Daniel Muse, Medical Director of the Municipal Police Training Committee and a Physician at Signature Health followed by a hands-on session to give attendees practical experience with administering Narcan. The training was attended by school officials from Arlington, Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School, Billerica, Lexington, Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, Medford, Shawsheen Regional Technical High School, Stoneham and Woburn.

Over the last year, Ryan’s office has provided 540 doses of Narcan to police and fire departments in Middlesex County at no cost to municipalities using revenue collected from drug forfeitures to purchase the Narcan. As of Monday, Nov. 2, the State Troopers assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office have responded to 164 fatal overdoses.