Administering Naloxone as a School Service

Legal Brief

The elementary school’s ride pickup line can be a source of both pain and comic relief for school leaders. Organizing and managing an orderly line is a task commensurate with carrying out the D-Day invasion, and it has been the subject of numerous comedic movie scenes, social media memes and school staff meltdowns. It is not an assignment for the faint of heart.

But in my state, and I suspect many others, the inherent challenge and humor of this daily process sometimes gives way to the harsh realities of the world that surrounds us. One Kentucky elementary school recently had its student pickup line disrupted by the need to administer naloxone to a parent in a vehicle who had lost consciousness while waiting to pick up his child after school. (Technically labeled an “opioid antagonist,” naloxone often is known by its brand name Narcan.)