As Minnesota Lawmakers Consider Requiring Opioid Overdose-Reversal Drugs In Schools, Bloomington Is Leading The Way

By Caroline Cummings, CBS Minnesota

December 23, 2022

At Oak Grove Middle School, tucked inside the cabinet storing the automated external defibrillator for emergencies is another life-saving tool: naloxone, which can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

The medication is stocked in all Bloomington Public Schools -- middle and high schools also have the nasal spray version, known by the brand name Narcan. It's part of a strategy by district leaders who say they are preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best at a time when even children aren't spared from the opioid crisis, now largely fueled by the highly potent fentanyl.

"Schools are a microcosm of our community. If it's happening in our community, we can expect that it's gonna happen in our school districts," said Rick Kaufman, the district's emergency management director.

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