I'm a Mom Who Bought Narcan to Protect My Family, and All Parents Should, Too
A few weeks ago, I got a shocking text from a friend. Two students at her daughter’s middle school had overdosed. Let me repeat that: middle school. A teacher found them in the bathroom, unconscious. Suspecting the worst, an administrator used Narcan nasal spray. Thankfully they were revived and taken to a local hospital where they eventually recovered. But if it wasn’t for the Narcan, they would have died. Two lives, with so much potential. Almost gone.
Every eight minutes, a person dies from an opioid overdose, the leading cause of accidental death in the United States. According to the CDC, drug overdoses for kids between the ages of 10 and 19 increased 109% between 2019 and 2021; of those, 90% involved opioids. I have two boys, ages 9 and 14. We openly talk about smoking, vaping, drugs and drinking and the dangers of experimentation. While I’m confident they will make smart decisions in the future, I want to be prepared for anything. And I couldn’t get the story about those students out of my head. I decided I needed to do something. I purchased Narcan, a potentially life-saving drug that reverses the effects of an overdose, for our home.
Getting my hands on Narcan was surprisingly easy; since March 2023, the FDA approved it to be available over the counter. I went to my local pharmacy and paid my insurance’s $5 co-pay for a package of two nasal sprays which are good for two years. I now have one in my car and another at home. It took less than an hour out of my day, and I already feel safer being prepared.
Other parents in my community feel the same way. “I have two sons that are ages 14 and 10,” says Jill Ross, a mom in Los Angeles. “Although I don’t think they’re in a position to come in contact with drugs, I don’t want to be naive. My insurance fully covers a prescription of Narcan, so it was a no-brainer for me to utilize the free benefit. I now keep it in the trunk of my car. It gives me peace of mind.”
Other moms want to take it a step further. “I believe it is imperative that all schools keep Narcan on hand,” says Pamela Wright, Dean of Social Justice at Marlborough School in Los Angeles and mom of two. “As an educator, I am CPR and AED defibrillator trained. I think Narcan training falls under that same worst-case-scenario training, such as fire drills and how to use an EpiPen.”
In February, the Los Angeles Unified School District updated its medication policy to allow students to carry Narcan, and other schools around the country are following suit.
Information about overdoses and drugs can be confusing and scary, but the information is power. Here are a few things I learned along the way.
What kind of drugs does Narcan guard against?
Opioids are prescribed to alleviate extreme pain in patients under a doctor’s supervision. But they’re highly addictive because they activate powerful reward centers in your brain by releasing feel-good chemicals called endorphins. According to the National Institute of Health, these endorphins deaden your perception of pain and increase feelings of pleasure, which creates a temporary but powerful sense of euphoria.
The most commonly prescribed opioids are Vicodin, Percocet, Oxycodone and Morphine. But by far, the most dangerous is Fentanyl, a synthetically produced opioid 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, according to the Centers for Disease Control. And it’s a major contributor to fatal and nonfatal overdoses in the U.S.
Even in small doses, Fentanyl can be extremely dangerous. Just two milligrams can cause an overdose or death.
There are two types of Fentanyl — pharmaceutical grade and illicitly manufactured — and they are virtually indistinguishable. Illicitly obtained Fentanyl can be mixed with other street drugs like cocaine and heroin, creating a lethal dose of opioids that can kill instantly. Sadly, 150 people die every day from overdoses related to this drug.
How do you know when to give Narcan?
Knowing the signs of an opioid overdose is essential to responding quickly. According to Poison Control Centers, the signs and symptoms of an opioid overdose emergency can include the following:
Slow or absent breathing or unusual breathing patterns.
Slow heartbeat or low blood pressure.
Extreme sleepiness or unresponsiveness.
Cold and clammy skin.
Pinpoint pupils.
Nails and lips are blue due to a lack of oxygen.
If you have a teen who is curious and tries it for the first time but takes too much, you can have an overdose on your hands. If you have someone recovering from an injury or surgery and they are taking opioids, all it takes is a miscalculation to overdose.
Regular drug users or those looking to experiment aren’t the only ones at risk. It’s possible for any child to ingest opioids if you have them in your home. A recent study in the American Academy of Pediatrics states that opioids cause half of all poisonings in the United States in kids ages 5 and younger. Just last month it was reported that a family, who was staying in a Florida Airbnb, lost their toddler due to accidental fentanyl ingestion. The home had not been cleaned properly after the last tenants left and this was the result.
What does Narcan do?
Narcan, or naloxone HCI, is a potentially life saving medication designed to help reverse the effects of an opioid overdose in minutes. In scientific terms, Naloxone is an opioid antagonist. This means that it works by binding with opioid receptors in the brain to rapidly reverse the effects of opioid overdose. And, it was developed to be administered without any training.
If you suspect an opioid overdose, it’s important to act fast. Brain damage from not breathing can occur at four minutes, and death can occur only four to six minutes later. Since it takes the average emergency response team seven minutes to arrive in a suburban setting, administering Narcan before they arrive can save a life.
As soon as you suspect a person is having an overdose, call 911 and then go to work with Narcan, which comes in a nasal spray. If you’ve used a nasal spray for a cold, you know how to use it: You place and hold the nozzle tip in the patient’s nostril until your fingers touch the bottom of the patient’s nose. Press the plunger firmly to release the dose into the patient’s nose.
What happens if you give Narcan to someone who doesn’t need it?
There are no adverse effects if you administer Narcan, and it turns out the person was not having an overdose.
“You can’t hurt someone by giving Narcan,” says Angelique Campen, M.D., an emergency medicine physician at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center. “When I train first responders, I spray it up my own nose to show that. If you even think you need to use it, go ahead and use it. Don’t hesitate. Every second someone is not breathing is time the brain and heart are being starved of oxygen.”
How much does Narcan cost, and where is it available?
Thanks to a recent FDA ruling, Narcan is now available without a prescription from retail pharmacies like CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid.
The cost of Narcan is minimal if you are covered by insurance. Most of the time, it’s either free or available with a small co-pay. There are also free resources for those that are uninsured. The National Coalition for Prescription Drug Abuse is a great resource for finding it for free.
Only one question remains about Narcan: “Why not have it in your house?” says Judy Koempel, a pediatric registered nurse at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. “Any parent with opioids in the house should have Narcan on standby. It’s not just for addicts. An overdose could be accidental. And having it on hand could be the difference between life and death.”
I still think about those two students who almost lost their lives. What they thought of as harmless experimentation could have ended in tragedy. I told my kids about it. It was important for them to know. But this time around, I also talked to my 14-year-old about Narcan and what it could do. Keeping the lines of communication open is key to keeping my kids safe. As is having Narcan in my back pocket in case of an actual emergency. I hope I never have to use it, but I’m prepared if I have to.
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