ONTARIO – Police are investigating a student’s recent fentanyl-related overdose at Ontario High School.
Ontario School District officials would confirm only that there was a “medical emergency” at the school on Thursday, Aug. 25.
Taryn Smith, district communications coordinator, declined to say where in the school the episode happened or the age of the victim.
Ontario Police Chief Mike Iwai confirmed in an email that school administrators responded “to a classroom due to an unresponsive male student” at about 8:30 a.m.
“School administration deployed two doses of naloxone,” Iwai said. “The student had a pulse and was shallowly breathing. Officer Casey Walker began sternum rubs when the student regained consciousness. The student was dazed and confused.”
Smith confirmed that the naloxone was administered by the principal, Ken Martinez.
The teenager was taken to Saint Alphonsus Medical Center Ontario for treatment. No additional information was available from authorities about the student’s condition.
“This is an ongoing investigation, which involves juveniles,” Iwai said.
The chief and other law enforcement officials in Malheur County have been increasingly concerned about the presence of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that can be fatal and is found mixed with other drugs.
“As a district, we have been preparing for these types of incidents,” Smith said in an email. “We are always looking for ways to find efficiencies in our response times and continue training where necessary.”
Smith said schools have already been stocked with Narcan, a brand of Naloxone which can rapidly reverse the effects of an overdose.
News tip? Contact Editor Les Zaitz: [email protected]
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