Horne-led taskforce places more than 4,000 Narcan kits in schools

Work of School Training Overdose Preparedness and Intelligence Taskforce, (STOPIT)

PHOENIX – State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne is praising the efforts of the School Training Overdose and Intelligence Taskforce (STOP-IT) for its success addressing the epidemic of drug use among school-age children.

Horne said, “Today, more than 4,000 lifesaving Narcan kits are in Arizona schools because of the efforts of the STOP-IT taskforce, with more on the way. The results have been excellent and represent my ongoing commitment to the health and safety of school-aged children. They are to be congratulated for doing a tremendous amount of work in a short time and getting tangible results that will help protect children. We are grateful to the 20 medical societies, government agencies and state programs that have signed a letter of support promoting the integration of STOP-IT resources into our schools.”

To date, just under 4,400 kits have been distributed to 144 education agencies in Arizona through the Narcan request process, with 210 kits in the process of packaging for distribution to education agencies. An additional 2,000 kits have been allocated to school staff who attend trainings hosted by the Arizona Department of Education School Safety Unit or regional school safety consortia and to schools for subsequent distribution at community events.

STOP-IT co-chair, Dr. Holly Geyer, MD, FASAM Hospital Internal Medicine and Addiction Medicine Specialist at the Mayor Clinic said, “Thanks to the incredible collaboration between STOP-IT members, this initiative has been able to complete the nation’s first comprehensive survey evaluating opioid overdose prevention/management practices completed in a state school system; secure a long-term, replenishable supply chain for naloxone in schools; hand-deliver thousands of naloxone doses across the state; create a resource-rich, evidence-based toolkit to help schools achieve regulatory compliance; build out best-practice mock overdose policies for schools to adapt; and create workflows for statewide reporting of opioid-overdoses on school campuses.”

She added, “We are also in the process of constructing the first state-of-the-art, metric-based education delivery platform to ensure standardized student training on the topic of opioids, addiction and overdose prevention.  STOP-IT successes have been recognized at a national level and organizations such as the National School Board Association, the National Association of Elementary School Principals, and other have partnered to broaden public messaging. With minimal to no dedicated tax-payer funding, STOP-IT has proven itself to be an efficient, reproducible model for the many other states in need of overdose prevention planning in schools.”

The group established best practices for Narcan accessibility and use of the kits, created training curricula regarding fentanyl awareness and overdose prevention, developed reporting mechanisms to record overdose events and surveyed schools to get reliable data on the scope of the problem.

Among the most serious problems is the rise in fentanyl. More than 59 percent of all fentanyl trafficked into the U.S. comes through Arizona. Fentanyl in small doses can kill the average adult and the drug has been found to contaminate virtually all other drugs that are commonly abused.

Horne added, “Within the past three years, overdoses rose to the third leading cause of death in youth under age 18.  National studies have identified Maricopa County as having the second highest overdose death rate among youth in the country.  And according to the Department of Health Services, our state has recorded more than 1300 non-fatal overdoses and 224 deaths in our kids since 2017.  Those figures represent tragic situations for children and their families. As a state, we must do as much as possible to combat this scourge, which is why I am so proud of the meaningful progress made by the STOP-IT taskforce.”

More than 60 people representing a broad cross-section of representatives from schools, health care, behavioral health, law enforcement and multiple state agencies were essential to the success of STOP-IT. They include the Arizona Department of Education, Arizona School Resource Officers Association, Arizona Counter Drug Task Force, Arizona School Administrators Association, Arizona Association of School Business Officials, Arizona Department of Health Services, Arizona School Boards Association, Arizona Society of Addiction Medicine, Inc., Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs, Arizona School Counselors Association, Arizona Chapter of the American College of Physicians, Arizona Association of School Psychologists, Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, Arizona Interscholastic Association, Arizona Nurses Association, Arizona Medical Association, Arizona Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Arizona Chapter of the National Safety Council, National Association of School Nurses, School Nurses Association of Arizona and the Substance Awareness Coalition Leaders of Arizona.