DA Morrissey trains school nurses
In spotting abuse, reversing overdoes
Two school nurses and a detective from Brookline
joined more than 80 of their colleagues, athletic directors and trainers from
across Norfolk County for a two-part opiate safety training, hosted by Norfolk
DA Michael W. Morrissey.
The event included how to use the opiate overdose
reversal drug naloxone and an evidence-based screening system to identify
students at risk for addiction – particularly following post-operative
prescribing for sports injuries.
“The training was in two distinct parts. The Director
of School Health Services for the Department of Public Health, Mary Ann
Gapinski, provided the SBIRT training,” District Attorney Morrissey said.
“SBIRT stands for Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment.”
The second training segment, instructing school nurses
on administering the opiate overdose reversal drug naloxone, and associated
treatment, was provided by Dr. Daniel Muse, director of the emergency
department at Brockton Hospital. “Dr. Muse serves at medical director for
the naloxone program we have provided to our municipal police departments,”
Morrissey said.
The Norfolk DA’s Office was the first in the state, if
not the country, to offer naloxone training and supply to every police and fire
department in its district. It is the first in Massachusetts, if not the
country, to offer the training to all of its school nurses and sports trainers.
Nurses Jill Seaman-Chandler and April Armstrong were
joined by Detective Julie McDonnell at the Dec. 16 training, held at the
headquarters of the Bank of Canton.
“The naloxone training grabbed the headlines and the
TV spots, but we view the SBIRT portion as equally important,” Morrissey said.
“It is aimed at identifying bellwether behaviors and initial warning signs before
the disease of addiction has taken full hold. We are looking to prevent the
eventual need for naloxone, even as we train to use it.”
Morrissey reviews the circumstances of every fatal
overdose his office responds to looking for trends and commonalities. “Many
overdose decedents were introduced to opioids during their high school years
following surgery for a sports injury,” Morrissey said. “Everyone with a
medical role in our schools needs to know that. It may save lives.”
Morrissey, who has provided school safety grants to
public school systems for the last several years, is going to supplement DPH
funding to make the full implementation of SBIRT possible without cost to the
towns as his grants this year.
“As one of our trainers said, schools don’t have
universal postural screening because every student has scoliosis,” Morrissey
said. “But if screening catches a problem early enough, prompt intervention can
prevent a lifetime of negative consequences. The same holds with
substance-abuse screening.”
No comments:
Post a Comment