A secondary school student in Moorcroft, Wyoming, stopped breathing after a drug overdose and had to have Narcan administered, the principal confirmed Monday to Cowboy State Daily.
The incident happened Oct. 4 at a school volleyball game in Moorcroft.
Five students suffered consequences in connection with the event. One of the five, not the one who overdosed, was caught with marijuana, Moorcroft Secondary School Principal Nicholas Redden said in a Monday phone interview.
“We do not know what he overdosed on,” said Redden. “We had to use Narcan to revive him. I’m still waiting for the toxicology screen to come back from our chief of police.”
School authorities turned investigation of the incident over to Moorcroft police, Redden said.
He credited fast-acting nurses and staffers who were on campus for a professional development day, and the presence of Narcan in various locations throughout school facilities.
Two nurses noticed the young man wasn’t breathing, he said. Numerous other staffers stepped up to help the situation.
While only one of the five students involved suffered the overdose incident and another was caught with marijuana, all five who were in the area suffered consequences for making “poor choices,” said the principal.
Those consequences varied, and Redden declined to say what they were specifically. He also declined to say whether any of the students was 18 years old, which would make them chargeable as an adult.
The student who overdosed is doing OK now, Redden said Monday.
“The situation has been dealt with and we’re continuing to try to bring more education to students, you know, through speakers, through things like that — to try to alert them to the dangers of things like this,” he added. “As bad as the situation is and mistakes were made, it’s still the fact that a positive came that day: from the young man surviving.”
“Hopefully,” Redden continued, “we can create more positives for our students so things like this don’t happen again.”
As for possible criminal charges, Redden referred that question to Moorcroft Police Chief Bill Bryant.
Bryant, who could not be reached at work all morning and bristled at receiving a call to his cellphone, told Cowboy State Daily to “get lost.”
Contact Clair McFarland at clair@cowboystatedaily.com
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
