A full classroom of students is dying every week. Bring Narcan to every school.
I still vividly remember the day I witnessed Narcan – the medication that reverses an opioid overdose – administered for the first time. Within a matter of minutes, a young man went from unresponsive to alert of his surroundings. It was the kind of life-and-death difference that I had only known to exist in movies. While relieved for the man in that moment, I was later saddened to learn that this miracle medication is often not readily available.
Over the past five years, I have sought to change this by working to improve overdose education and prevention in communities. From my work with nonprofits specializing in comprehensive addiction treatment and recovery, I learned the importance of providing emergency tools like Narcan directly into the hands of communities in need of it most.
Inspired by this work, in 2019, I founded the nonprofit End Overdose Together to lead trainings on opioid overdose recognition, prevention, and Narcan administration in the community. In 2019, the organization received a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs to expand efforts. Our mission is to ensure that all individuals and organizations are aware, able, and ready to deliver Narcan when faced with an opioid overdose.
With overdose rates rising in schools across the country, I believe all states should adopt this same mission and stock Narcan on school grounds.
Read my op-ed on this issue published in The Hill.
Kevan Shah (2023 cohort), from Cliffside Park, New Jersey, is pursuing a master’s degree in community health and prevention research at Stanford School of Medicine. He graduated from Muhlenberg College with a bachelor’s degree in public health and from Tsinghua University with a master’s degree in global affairs. Kevan aspires to serve as a physician-leader. He is the founder and executive director of End Overdose Together, a nonprofit that recruits, trains, and mobilizes students to lead workshops on overdose prevention.
Kevan has helped shape policies and programs to combat the overdose crisis at Integrity House, New Jersey Reentry Corporation, Opioid Overdose Prevention Network, and St. Luke’s Sacred Heart Hospital. His research and recommendations have been championed by former governors and become the basis of legislation. He has been recognized as a Schwarzman scholar and Newman Civic fellow.
All photos courtesy Kevan Shah.
Knight-Hennessy scholars represent a vast array of cultures, perspectives, and experiences. While we as an organization are committed to elevating their voices, the views expressed are those of the scholars, and not necessarily those of KHS.
