New state law requires opioid overdose response kits in schools

More emergency kits to save victims of opioid overdoses are on their way to Alaska schools, in accordance with a new law. It requires schools statewide to have kits on hand, with trained people on site to administer those kits if needed.

Although the new law does not go into effect until late November, the state Department of Health has already begun shipping out kits with overdose-reversal medicine and associated gear.

The law is the product of House Bill 202, which Gov. Mike Dunleavy signed in late August.

As of early last month, about 200 of the 500 kits assembled by the Department of Health have been sent to school districts, said Alex Huseman, a public information officer for the department. The department is on track to get the rest of the kits delivered before the law takes effect.

The Wrangell School District already has overdose response kits in its offices, Superintendent Bill Burr reported last month. He and the principals are certified to use the kits, and the state public health nurse from Petersburg will provide additional staff training as needed.

The bill aligns with recommendations contained in the department’s 2022-23 opioid response report to the Legislature.

As of March, Alaska had the nation’s biggest percentage year-over-year increase in overdose deaths, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Alaska is one of the few states in which overdose deaths increased from March 2023 to March 2024, according to the CDC. The death toll recorded in 2023 was the highest ever for the state, according to the Alaska Department of Health.

The bill’s prime sponsor, Palmer Rep. DeLena Johnson, said she was pleased that the measure passed unanimously.

Ensuring that schools are equipped with medicine and skilled people to address drug overdoses might be especially important in rural areas, Johnson said at the bill-signing ceremony. “Schools are really the center of our communities, not just for children,” she said. “This may be the only overdose medication available in the entirety of a small town.”

The new law is similar to laws or policies in place in several other states, according to Johnson’s sponsor statement.

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