'Open, insert, squirt': In this U.S. town, children are taught to administer Narcan
ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. — Shortly after his first-grade class let out for the day, Nash Kitchens sat with a dozen other young children at a library and played a murder mystery game that had a surprising plot twist.
Like scores of communities across America, Carter County, Tennessee, which includes Elizabethton, has been struck hard by an opioid crisis that has ravaged families and reshaped how a generation of young people are being raised. Nationally, few cities have been spared as more than 400,000 Americans have died from opioid overdoses.
Story continuesAt least 100 young people have returned for additional doses, said Reece, the coalition’s director, typically after going through their personal supply. Sherry Barnett, the region’s overdose prevention specialist for the state of Tennessee, said only three schools in eight counties have allowed her to provide students Narcan training. “We’re in the Bible Belt,” she said, “and a lot of schools here don’t like to admit drugs are a problem.”
Yordi Mendez, 16, grew up surrounded by drug use. At 13, he said he tried cocaine that his father had left in a bathroom, and he has seen two friends die from overdoses. He was caught vaping at school and is among nearly 100 students who since June have received Narcan training because of court-ordered vaping cessation classes, taught by the Carter County Drug Prevention Coalition, the same group Reece leads.
The Elizabethton Public Library, where the recent murder mystery game was held, is on the front lines of Carter County’s opioid crisis. The library’s staff, who were first trained to administer Narcan six years ago, said they have found drugs in the bathrooms, hidden inside DVD cases and stashed inside James Patterson books, which are so popular that they have become a drop-off location for drug deals.
At the recent murder mystery session, the children ranged in age from 5 to 16. Several had been through the training before, but their parents thought they could use a refresher. Some of the children had a parent who has struggled with addiction.
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