Funded Projects

Narcan and CPR School Based Training 

Project Year

2025

City & State

New Town, North Dakota

Program Name

CATCH Resident

Topic

Native American Child Health

Program Description

Native American communities are at risk from death by drug overdose. In 2022, on average, over 295 Americans died every day from a drug overdose. and 1,543 non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native people died by overdose, which was the highest rate of any racial or ethnic group.  Naloxone training programs involving laypersons more likely to encounter opioid overdoses are progressively becoming more widely adopted throughout the US (Weiner et al., 2019). Many of these community-based initiatives have shown significant progress in reducing the mortality of opioid overdoses. Prior programs that have provided naloxone training to laypeople have demonstrated improved survival within the community (Giglio et al., 2015). A study of adolescents in a youth detention center demonstrated significant improvement in opioid overdose knowledge (Chambers et al., 2021). Numerous communities across the country have started introducing opioid education and naloxone administration skills to children.  The goal of this study is to provide education about opioid use and increase the number of students in grades 6-12 who are trained in narcan administration and hands only CPR by the end of the academic year. Our project will focus on New Town, Mandaree, White Shield, Parshall, and Twin Buttes Public secondary Schools in North Dakota, providing students in grades 6–12 with opioid overdose education, naloxone administration sessions, and hands-only CPR training. Students’ knowledge of appropriate responses to opioid overdose and self-perceived attitudes towards opioid prevention will be assessed before and after training using an adapted version of the validated Opioid Overdose Knowledge Scale (OOKS) and Attitudes Scale (OOAS) evaluations. Results of the proposed study can inform community outreach initiatives for youth and adolescents in communities at higher risk for opioid overdose.  This study is being conducted at 5 secondary schools on a Great Plains Reservation and is approved by the Northwell Institutional Review Board, and school leadership. On average, PGY-2 pediatric residents travel about 4 times a year to North Dakota as part of their global health 4-week elective. In-person training sessions will be provided by pediatric residents from Cohen Children’s Medical Center and will include hands-only CPR training and naloxone administration using placebo nasal naloxone products provided by Cohen Children’s Medical Center. Education will be delivered through videos, interactive demonstrations, and lectures, covering key aspects such as recognizing opioid overdose signs and symptoms, safety precautions, emergency response activation, and accurate and timely naloxone administration.  Assessments will be administered across three timepoints: baseline, post-training, and 6 months post-training. Research data will be recorded and securely maintained using the Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) system.  Our aim is to have 90% of the students score higher on validated opioid skills and knowledge assessments following the educational sessions. We anticipate improved opioid overdose knowledge, comfort with life support skills, and a sustainable intervention that enhances the health of the broader Great Plains region by aligning with existing efforts to confront the opioid epidemic. 

Project Goal

Our goal is to provide education about opioid use and increase the number of students in grades 6-12 on a reservation in the Great Plains region who are trained in Narcan administration and hands only CPR by the end of the academic year. 

Project Objective 1

Empower students with knowledge about opioid overdose

Project Objective 2

Help students to develop the skills to perform Narcan administration

Project Objective 3

Provide CPR training to students

AAP District

District VI

Institutional Name

Northwell Health, Cohen Children’s Medical Center

Contact 1

Michael McDonagh, MD

Contact 2

Apoorva Iyengar, MD