The Oregon Health Authority is offering free opioid reversal kits to schools across the state.
Oregon schools are eligible to request the kits if they serve students seventh grade or higher. OHA spokesperson Tim Heider says the kits include the overdose reversal drug naloxone.
“With the saturation of fentanyl in our communities, really getting naloxone to as many organizations as we possibly can, is going to help lower the number and impacts of overdoses,” Heider said.
Heider says since the program started in late November, more than 500 Oregon schools, colleges, and universities have requested the kits. The program is open to all public, private, charter schools, colleges and universities, or tribal communities in Oregon.
They’re provided through the Save Lives Oregon Initiative’s Harm Reduction Clearinghouse Project which is funded by the state’s settlement with opioid manufacturers.
The project has distributed more than 335,000 doses of naloxone to agencies who distribute the drug to people at risk of opioid overdose since 2022, according to OHA estimates.
