Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano and Plainedge School Superintendent Edward Salina Jr. have partnered together to make the Plainedg
e School District the first public school district in New York State to provide a free overdose prevention seminar and train its entire staff on the administration of the lifesaving, opiate-overdose reversal agent known as Narcan. Plainedge will also be the first district to keep shared Narcan kits in each school building. Staff will be taught how to administer the lifesaving antidote, which can reverse the fatal effects of an opiate overdose and will also learn the warning signs of drug addiction and more.
The training will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 1, when Plainedge staff returns for the 2015-16 school year, as part of the Superintendent’s Conference Day schedule. The training will be conducted by Nassau County’s Director of Education and Training in the Department of Human Services, Office of Mental Health & Chemical Dependency. Since becoming a state-certified Opiate Overdose Responder Program in October 2012, the office has trained nearly 4,700 civilians throughout the county to save the life of someone overdosing.
“Through education, awareness and enforcement, my administration and the Heroin Prevention Task Force are diligently combatting heroin and opioid abuse throughout Nassau,” said Mangano. “These free Narcan training programs continue to save lives and keep families whole. I would like to thank Superintendent Salina for joining in this lifesaving initiative.”
Heroin and prescription painkillers accounted for 190 deaths last year in Nassau. Narcan has been used by paramedics and emergency room doctors for decades, to save lives. A 2006 state law allows ordinary citizens to administer Narcan in an attempt to save a life, without fear of liability. The antidote is administered through a nasal spray, and is provided at no charge to trainees over the age of 18.
“I believe we can all possibly benefit, and save a life, by being trained in Narcan,” said Salina, who was trained earlier this summer.
“While our drug abuse prevention efforts focus on prevention, education, awareness and enforcement, there are those who are already hooked on drugs and may need another chance at recovery, and life,” Mangano added.
