Copenhagen Teachers Association president John Cain keeps Narcan in his desk and his truck. Cain wants to be clear: he isn’t courting disaster, but in this day and age, it makes sense to be prepared.
In February of 2023, the Copenhagen TA, in partnership with a community health nonprofit, organized an opioid overdose prevention training where they taught 40 members to administer the opioid antagonist.
“Knock on wood, we hope we never have to use it, but if we do need to use it, we’re ready,” said Cain. Cain is also chair of NYSUT’s Small and Rural Locals Advisory Council. The council met in March, and discussed several pressing issues, including the opioid epidemic and how New York state educators are responding.
The Copenhagen district, which straddles Jefferson and Lewis counties, is located along a prominent drug corridor that stretches from New York City to Watertown, Cain said. In recent years, the North Country has seen a surge in drug activity and overdoses, and more than half of the counties in the region made the National Office of Drug Control Policy’s list of High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas.
Coupled with that, the rural community, which boasts just one stop light and a smattering of businesses, is miles from the nearest hospital or ambulance company.
“If we can save a life before medical or police professionals can get here, then we need to be prepared to do that,” Cain said.
New York State’s Department of Health recognizes school districts and BOCES as an important partner in the battle against drug-related deaths and encourages schools to implement opioid overdose prevention programs. The department provides all the necessary training and free naloxone, the Narcan generic, to participating schools.
NYSUT health and safety specialist Tricia Geisel said the DOH training is straightforward and simple, and staff can’t harm anyone since people don’t have adverse reactions to naloxone, even if it’s mistakenly administered to someone who hasn’t overdosed. And yet, many schools are reticent to participate in overdose prevention programs.
“There’s still a stigma around opioids. They feel like they’re admitting they have a problem, but it’s not about that,” Geisel said. “It’s about having it available just in case.”
Geisel said opioid-synthetic fentanyl is increasingly prevalent and can be mixed in with other non-opioid substances, including vaping tobacco and even counterfeit ADHD medicine.
Jennifer Austin, president of the Fillmore Faculty Association and a member of the NYSUT Board of Directors is lobbying her superintendent to participate in the state’s opioid prevention overdose program.
“We have to get on this, because it’s not a matter of if it’s coming, but when,” Austin said.
Her district is located in Allegany County in the Southern Tier, where there have been numerous accidental overdoses, especially when you consider the size of the overall population: 11 deaths in a county of roughly 45,000 people, and with just one hospital in the county, safe response time isn’t assured, she said.
“This is everywhere now,” Austin said, adding, “We have to be proactive, not reactive.”