LEWISTON — Knowing the symptoms of an opioid overdose, when to call 911 and what to do while you wait for help were some of the main points seventh and eighth graders at Lewiston Middle School learned this week.

More than 150 students attended the Thursday morning training session in the school’s auditorium to learn more about naloxone, a medication that can revive people who overdose on opioids.

Mandated by a new state law signed into effect last summer, public schools must offer training for students in grades seven through 12 to teach them how to administer the overdose antidote, even if the students choose not to take part.

Karter Langlais, an eighth grader at Lewiston Middle School, said he was familiar with some of the information that was presented during the training, but he said he appreciated learning what to do while waiting for 911.

“I knew some of it, but it was good for them to give us all the information, so we know the symptoms (of an overdose) and what to do if something happens,” he said.

Lewiston Middle School principal Amanda Bryant, left, and assistant principal Pam Butler, right, pass out Narcan to the last eighth grade student in line Thursday. Bryant checked to make sure each student had permission from their parent or caregiver to receive the medication that reverses opioid overdoses. Butler handed each student with permission a box of two doses. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Principal Amanda Bryant and Assistant Principal Pam Butler took turns sharing important information about overdose symptoms and the medication’s effects and properties before showing students the correct way to administer it.

Students were told how naloxone can temporarily undo overdoses resulting from drugs such as morphine, heroin, methadone, Demerol, codeine, OxyContin and fentanyl. Once administered, it quickly blocks the opioid’s effects on the brain and lungs to prevent death as the overdose begins shutting down vital organs.

Naloxone itself has no potential for abuse as it isn’t a habit-forming substance. It will not affect a person if they do not have any opioids in their system.

It comes in two FDA-approved forms — injectable and nasal spray. Students were introduced to Narcan, the brand name for the medication’s nasal spray form, often used interchangeably with naloxone. Schools are set to stock the nasal spray form.

To illustrate the differences between different drugs’ potency, Butler gave an example.

“If you take fentanyl, pretty big deal, right? It has a huge effect on your body. When my dad was sick in the hospital and dying, he got morphine because he had so much pain. Fentanyl is 50 to 100 times stronger than that,” Butler said.

“It’s really easy. Put two fingers on the top, thumb on the bottom on the bed, push it up, put it in the nose. Push it up, and you’ve got your administration,” Bryant said as she walked the students through an administration.

“When you give somebody Narcan, it will take two to three minutes before it takes effect,” Bryant said. “The person is breathing slow, their heart is slow, they are probably unconscious. Then, you give them Narcan. Nothing will happen for two to three minutes, because it takes a little bit for it to kick in. Don’t give it again for a few minutes, for those two to three minutes.”

“But during that time, you need to call 911. Either call 911 before you give the Narcan, or right after. And then, after the three minutes, the person should come out of the overdose,” Bryant continued said.

“The next super important thing is that 30 to 90 minutes after you give the Narcan, the person will go back into overdose mode because the Narcan will wear off,” Bryant continued. “Do you remember the slide that Mrs. Butler showed you about how long the opioids can last (in your body)? Some of them can last 24 hours.”

“If the person doesn’t continually get Narcan every 90 minutes or so, they will keep going back into that overdose mode. That’s why it is really important for you to call 911. Because it’s really not your responsibility to keep doing that. You need to get help,” Bryant added.

Lewiston Middle School eighth grader Karter Langlais discusses the training session he attended Thursday morning on the use of Narcan. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Afterward, more than half of the students got in line to leave with a naloxone kit, good for about three years from their manufacturing date if kept in room temperature. 96 kids left with naloxone.

“I thought it was very important to learn what it was all about,” Langlais said. “We’ll know when to call 911 or what to do while we wait for help,” Langlais added.

Seventh graders were invited to take part in the training on Wednesday. Comparing attendance numbers at the end, Bryant said at least one-third of the total student population for each grade had shown up. Numbers were consistent for both days. About 150 students were at the training each day, about a hundred of them leaving with naloxone kits.

Among those who chose not to participate, about 20 families communicated with the school about their unwillingness.

“Families didn’t have to give a reason why they didn’t want their kids to attend,” Bryant said. “If their kids try (administering naloxone) and something doesn’t go well, they don’t want their child to have that attempt lingering on them and to have that kind of trauma,” she added. “Some have told me that they’ve had a close family member pass, so they didn’t want their child to be re-traumatized, to even talk about it.”

In addition to naloxone, the schools are also working to finalize training sessions for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillator (AED) to comply with LD 1315, the same law that has mandated naloxone training.

Bryant said that Lewiston’s CPR and AED training will be held at a later date in the coming months.