Mercury News: Fentanyl on Campus - One Bay Area School Saved a Student's Life. Another Missed the Signs of an Overdose. Is Your School Ready?

The student gasped for breath. Her eyes widened. Her pupils shrunk.

Slumping in a chair in a conference room at W.C. Overfelt High School in late October, she was showing all the signs of overdosing on the powerful opioid fentanyl.

Principal Vito Chiala’s safety team had rushed her in when they encountered her walking to class and knew something was off. But now, she was slipping in and out of consciousness. They had all been trained to administer the nasal spray Narcan, which can reverse opioid overdoses. But that was last summer. Did they remember everything? Were they supposed to squirt it into one nostril or two? Was there a safety latch?

With emergency crews on the way, Chiala opened the small white box and triple-checked the fold-out instructions as teacher Natalia Gomez held the teenager steady. The girl gasped again. Her head fell backward. Then, she stopped breathing.