COLORADO, USA — The definition of normal is conforming to a standard, usual, or typical. You hear a lot about getting back to normal, but we’re not quite there yet.
“I think for us this will be the first year that we're getting back to what it used to feel like,” said Denver Public Schools (DPS) Director of Nursing, Julie Wilken.
Students are fully back in the classroom for the first time since the pandemic began, but there are still some lingering concerns.
"COVID will never go away, we will be learning with COVID,” Wilken said.
That's not the only public health concern for kids. Nurses are increasingly worried about something they’ve never dealt with before. Something they hope is not the new normal.
“It seems like once we get through one hurdle we're heading over another hurdle. And you just have to wonder at some point when does it stop,” Wilken said.
That latest hurdle is fentanyl.
“I think that I would term that as the scariest part of my job,” said Colorado Springs School District 11 (D-11) Nurse Lead, Bobbi Lahey.
The two nurses have a decade of experience. Yet both are frightened by this drug. Particularly when thinking of the worst-case scenario.
“It’s scary to know that there's something out there that is quick enough and strong enough to put someone out. And we have to react very emergently,” said Wilken.
According to the Colorado Department of Health and Environment (CDPHE) during the last school year, 29 kids between the ages of 10 and 18 died as a result of fentanyl.
"The availability of it. Students, kids, if they have a device, if they have social media, they have access and the ability to access this type of drug,” said D-11 Chief Communications Officer, Devra Ashby. "One pill can kill, that's terrifying,”
According to court documents, on Dec. 3, 2021, a student at Mitchell High School in Colorado Springs snorted a Percocet laced with fentanyl.
"I first saw the alert come through. Nine times out of 10 a student is transported to the hospital they're going to be OK,” Ashby said.
This time, the student was not OK. She overdosed in class and died at the hospital.
“It was a heartbreaking situation because our staff that attended to this young lady that tried to help her, they didn't even know what was transpiring, Ashby said. "And these are colleagues of mine that I know, I know they are forever impacted."
They didn't know, couldn't know, without the proper education.
“I started to think to myself I don't know much about this particular topic. And I don't know why it's becoming a big buzzword, fentanyl, and Narcan. I didn't understand the severity of the situation,” Ashby said.
She began to research and discovered the Fake and Fatal campaign. It was first launched in a school district in Oregon, also hoping to bring awareness.
"We definitely hit that very hard and got our feet on the ground very quickly. And within four to six weeks, we had a program in place,” Lahey,, the school nurse said.
A program that involved, student-led panels where victims, loved ones, and users came to answer students' questions. Medical professionals also came in to train not only nurses but anyone who wanted to know how they can save a life.
"We go through the protocol, are they responsive, any part of their body blue, their lips, fingers, toes,” Wilken said.
Tackling a growing problem, not only through training but by making resources available.
"The state of Colorado has a program you can apply to as a school district to get Narcan in each school,” Wilken said.
It's a statewide program, D-11 and DPS will benefit from this school year. They may have the tools in place, but no one is ready for the worst-case scenario.
“I think we're as equipped as we possibly can be right now. It’s not to say we're bulletproof, and we can avoid any type of emergency situation, but we have the tools in place, and we continue to educate ourselves and learn from things that have happened. And we're going to continue to spread the awareness,” Ashby said.
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"There's a sense of comfort I think that I feel knowing that we have some extra resources there at our fingertips,” Wilken said.
They are ready for whatever this school year may bring normal or not.
“My worry is always what's next, what's on the horizon,” Wilken said.
Schools are rolling out Narcan in a phased approach starting with high schools, then middle then elementary.
Sadly, this school year, Aurora has already seen one student die as a result of fentanyl.13-year-old Jose Hernandez was found dead in his home on Aug. 10. He had just started the eighth grade at Aurora Hills Middle School. His family says it was an accidental overdose.
The woman accused of selling the pills to several juveniles in Colorado Springs which resulted in the overdose at Mitchell High School faces charges of distributing fentanyl that resulted in death.
Sunday, the Drug Enforcement Administration will hold the first ever National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day. Many will gather at the State Capitol to share stories and raise awareness about the dangers of fentanyl.
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