California’s Los Angeles, September 22, 2022 – Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho said on this day that naloxone (Narcan) will be made freely available at all K–12 schools in the in response to the devastating pandemic of overdoses that are all too common in Los Angeles. The dosages of naloxone are being offered to the District without charge by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LACDPH). The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles have both provided support to the District. For a better understanding of K12, The K-12 system stands for ‘from kindergarten to 12th grade’. This equates roughly to a school starting age of around five through to Grade 12 at around the age of 18. The system is broken down into three stages: elementary school (Grades K–5), middle school (Grades 6–8) and high school (Grades 9–12).

In emergency situations, naloxone is an essential treatment for those who have overdosed on drugs like fentanyl since it temporarily undoes the consequences of an overdose. The National Institutes of Health claim that naloxone is a very effective, safe drug used to reverse.