BCSC ahead of the curve on stocking naloxone

Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. had already stocked the opioid overdose antidote naloxone at its schools, ahead of a new state law that took effect in July allowing the medication in schools.

“We were two years ahead of the state,” said Larry Perkinson, Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. employee and student assistance coordinator.

In the spring of 2016, school officials sat down with then Superintendent John Quick and talked about the school corporation’s response to the opioid epidemic, Perkinson said.

“And our thought process was that if there’s an epidemic, it’s likely something could happen at a school, with the number of adults we have visiting our campuses,” he said. “We were way ahead of the curve on this.”

Naloxone has been used twice in incidents in BCSC schools, once by an emergency medical technician, where it turned out the person was not overdosing, and in another case last fall, when a student at Columbus East High School was overdosing in a bathroom.

For more on this story, see Tuesday’s Republic.