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Norfolk DA Holds Narcan Training Session For School Nurses

BOSTON (CBS) - As the opiate epidemic in the state has exploded, state officials are looking at new ways to fight it.

On Wednesday, Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey got together school nurses, administrators, and athletic trainers from schools in his district to teach them how to administer the drug Narcan, an opioid antidote.

Deanna Murphy is a school nurse in Weymouth. For her, learning how to administer Narcan was personal. Her 27-year-old son David died a year ago this week from a heroin overdose. She says learning to use Narcan is extremely important. "I think it should be everywhere, I think everybody should have it, I definitely think it should be in the school system," Murphy says.

In recent years, opiates have exploded from the gritty streets of big cities to the leafy suburbs of affluent towns. And these educators got a close up view of what they know is out there.

"I think it's crucial, we'll be able to save a life," said Dedham High School Nurse Maria Antonuccio. "It may not be a student, it may be a parent."

The Norfolk DA was running the program along with Brockton Hospital Emergency Room Doctor Dan Muse, who places a lot of the blame for the opioid crisis on doctors who over-prescribe.

"Eighty percent of the narcotics that are prescribed in the world are prescribed in the United States," Dr. Muse says. "So what does that say? We are over-prescribing."

Last year, 1,000 people died in Massachusetts from heroin overdoses.

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