FORT SMITH, Ark. — A new Arkansas law that will go into effect on August 1 requires an opioid overdose rescue kit to be located on all state-funded public schools and universities. But how exactly are these schools preparing?
Act 811 was led by Rep. Tara Shephard (D) and co-sponsored by Sen. Linda Chesterfield (D).
The bill says that the kits must be in a clearly visible place and labeled with the words "Opioid Overdose Rescue Kit — Naloxone Nasal Spray" on all public school campuses no later than January 2024.
According to the bill, a school nurse and a school resource officer will have to carry Narcan, naloxone or another medication approved by the Department of Health (ADH) and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that "negates or neutralizes, in whole or in part, the pharmacological effects of an opioid in the human body."
The rescue kit has to be located in a spot where it would be readily available for public use and placed within the same storage location as an automated external defibrillator (AED).
In addition to these kits being within public every school and university in Arkansas, the opioid rescue kit has to be free of advertisements.
On university campuses, the kit must be located within locations where an AED is also stored, without limitation:
- educational building
- dormitory
- student union
- sporting venue
- an on-campus, free standing, institution-owned sorority or fraternity house
- campus health center
- any other necessary locations
Fort Smith Public School (FSPS) Police Chief Bill Hollenbeck said the district is already about 95% of the way there when it comes to the requirements of the bill. "[Opioid rescue kits] are going to be in public locations that are easily located as well as the fact that we will have signage on the automatic external defibrillator that there is a Narcan rescue kit there," Hollenbeck said.
Although FSPS hasn't seen overdose incidents in recent years, Hollenbeck said he wants to ensure safety and be prepared at all times.
"It's imperative that we're a step ahead. We want to make sure that in the unfortunate case that it does happen that our school resource officers, nurses, our staff are prepared to make sure that we treat a student who may accidentally or even on purpose have an opioid overdose."
At the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, their campus police have carried Narcan for years but officials tell 5NEWS they're ready to expand their circle of readiness.
Dr. Krehbiel, the UAFS vice president for student affairs, said the university is currently in the process of purchasing the kits for the best price possible. "We're beginning to make arrangements for training of students and what this means, and how to help if there's no one else available," Dr. Krehbiel said.
Under the law, all universities and public schools must have the rescue kits in place by January 1, 2024. Click here to read the full bill.
Watch 5NEWS on YouTube.
Download the 5NEWS app on your smartphone:
Stream 5NEWS 24/7 on the 5+ app: How to watch the 5+ app on your streaming device
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email KFSMDigitalTeam@tegna.com and detail which story you're referring to.