Why teenagers are more at risk of overdosing from fentanyl in the summer

HAYS COUNTY — As spring fades to summer and temperatures soar, Kyle Police Department, Wimberley ISD and Hays CISD officials are taking a proactive approach to idle hands and less adult supervision in order to warn students and parents alike of a dangerous drug — fentanyl.

When a suspected overdose is reported, law enforcement officials and EMS respond — whether it’s at school or in the home. A parade of flashing lights litters the streets as KPD initially treats the individual with Narcan until EMS can arrive and transport that individual to a hospital.

KPD recently responded to a suspected opioid overdose of a 16-year-old and administered several rounds of Narcan, which only serves to buy time. After EMS arrived, the child was transported to Ascension Seton Hays Hospital in Kyle. While KPD Chief Jeff Barnett reported that this was a non-resident and the first and only reported overdose so far this summer, he and other officials are eyeing a pervasive trend that is more likely to occur now that school is out.

“Since the beginning of summer, he’s the only one so far,” Barnett said. “And we want to keep it that way.”

Tim Savoy, director of communications for Hays CISD, said the district administered Narcan eight times in the past school year, breaking its record of seven overdoses the previous year. The district also keeps track of overdoses within the community, counting 22 within the year, with the last one taking place on May 20, according to Savoy.

Last summer, the area experienced a peak in fentanyl overdoses and several teenagers lost their lives as a result of taking fentanyl. And it wasn’t just Hays County. All across the nation, officials saw a rise in overdoses.

“Other communities are going through the exact same thing. This is a nationwide problem,” Barnett said, noting that it may seem more pervasive in Hays County because of the messaging to counteract this issue. “I think it feels very prevalent in our day-to-day activities. Because we are messaging the dangers of fentanyl every single day and you see it on billboards, the children are hearing about it in assemblies in the school district and the school district has created videos to help convey the dangers. So, I think it’s the messaging that makes people think about it and feel the significance of it. With the exception of last summer, comparatively, that was a bit unusual. But if you look at a 24-month period, it’s more in line with what we’re seeing nationally for cities our size. I think [we are exposed to it more] because of the bad things that have happened. It’s positive that the messages are getting out there to the community.”

While the recent opioid overdose may seem like a bad omen of what’s to come this summer, KPD said that the number of overdoses overall is down.

“I would say the frequency has slowed down somewhat,” the chief said. “The message that we’ve been trying to get out at this time of the year in the early weeks of summer is for parents to be actively engaged in their children’s activities for the summer.”

There are several ways parents can accomplish this:

• Should children go to visit friends, parents should know who those friends are and approve of those friendships.

• Parents should continue to have very important discussions about taking substances from anyone.

• If parents should leave home and leave teenagers unaccompanied throughout the day, activate a plan for regular communication throughout the day.

• Establish a communication plan should a teenager be in an uncomfortable situation so that parents can come take action.

• Have another trusted adult be available to teenagers throughout the day.

“Teenagers have more time to interact without adult supervision than when they’re in school throughout the year,” Barnett said. “Obviously, [when they’re in school], they’re in an organized activity with trusted adults. It has to do with idle time and parents are busy at work. They just need to be invested in where their kids are and with whom they’re hanging out.”

Both KPD and HCISD are working to spread community awareness in this time when teenagers are most vulnerable.

“It’s more dangerous in the summer, in the sense that kids are maybe by themselves often, especially if parents are working during the day,” Savoy said. “They’re obviously not in class and they’re not under the eye, if you will, of a teacher or adults or other peers on campus that can spot signs of someone going into an overdose. I think that’s one of the biggest factors. Any really big break from school has been where we’ve been the most concerned because of our pattern, or from what we’ve seen, that’s where we’re worried the most.”

Overdoses often trigger investigations into how a teenager got ahold of the drug. Barnett said this is not to punish the teenager; however, the investigation aims to track down a supply chain and arrest those allegedly at fault.

“Certainly, we have a very dedicated group of officers and narcotics officers that are working with all of the surrounding areas to bring arrests to those that are dealing this illicit drug in our community and we’ve had several successes so far. I’m certain that we have more coming in the near future,” Barnett said. “Years ago, these were treated as medical events and not so much a crime, because it didn’t really affect children. These are adults making decisions to buy an illegal drug. But now that this problem has become what it has become and because prosecutors are more open now than ever to charging those who deal drugs that cause injury or death to another, we are aggressively pursuing those investigations and potential criminal charges.”

Resources are also offered to any individual who may experience a substance abuse issue such as inpatient treatment, though that outlet may not be readily available.

“Our school counselors are not drug addiction counselors, so we don’t have the expertise to tackle necessarily an opiate addiction,” Savoy said. “If a kid comes forward, we will refer them to different places. One of the biggest challenges that we’ve seen is that the places that are available in the area … have long wait lists. And that’s just too long; you have an addiction that can be deadly immediately.”

Even in areas of the county where the epidemic is not as prevalent, schools are staying prepared, according to Wimberley ISD Communications Director Allen Bruggman.

“We, fortunately, have not experienced any student overdoses on our campuses and have no reports of students overdosing outside of school either. Despite this, we know the fentanyl crisis is widespread in our county. Last school year, we emailed families with information about the crisis and also promoted and hosted informational sessions where law enforcement and medical experts presented information about the dangers of fentanyl. In addition, all four of our campus nurses' offices have Narcan, all four of our SROs carry Narcan with them while on duty and it has been stocked in the AED/Stop the Bleed boxes that are at each of our campuses,” Bruggman said. “As for next school year, our staff is currently being trained on administration of the Narcan and we'll continue to share informational pieces about Fentanyl and evaluate presentation options for our families as well.”

Hays CISD hopes that with more awareness of tragedies past such as the death of Noah Rodriguez and others, students can learn to be safer in this deadly season.

“We’ve done videos, posters, the students did a campaign for the Forever 15 Project, organized by Janelle Rodriguez, one of our parents who lost a child. We’ve had assemblies and they’ve been doing billboards. All of that is outlined on our website, where you can see the updates sent to parents through the year on the crisis here,” Savoy said. “Our philosophy on it is: this is a fight that we all have to be involved in. Unfortunately, we are at the very beginning of the fentanyl crisis. I think we’re very early in this chapter still. There’s the sense that, while it’s hit us very hard, it’s still out there and it’s probably hitting communities for the first time probably every day.”