GREENFIELD — In an instance of a national effort gaining traction locally, 75 junior and senior students at Four Rivers Charter Public School were given hands-on instruction on how to respond to, and potentially reverse, a drug overdose during a three-hour training session this week.

The students joined addiction recovery and public health officials, including Public Health Nurse Megan Tudryn and Sarah Ahern of Choice Recovery Coaching, for a training session that included CPR, first aid and the administration of the overdose reversal drug naloxone, commonly known as Narcan.

“It was very evident to me as a facilitator that every student wanted to be there; they wanted to learn how to do this,” Ahern, who described herself as an overdose survivor in long-term recovery, said in an interview Thursday. “Many of them are going off to college next year, and they may be in spaces where they may have a friend or maybe another classmate that may experience an overdose, and now they know how to save a life.”

The program grew out of the senior class’ capstone project in which students directed and filmed “Rethinking Recovery,” a documentary about addiction and the opioid epidemic. It is also part of a broader effort happening nationwide, as the U.S. Department of Education and Office of National Drug Control Policy, in an open letter published in October 2023, called for schools to develop plans to educate students and personnel on overdose response, according to the National Library of Medicine.

Each of the 75 students walked home from this week’s training session, which entailed practicing CPR and naloxone administration on mannequins, with an overdose reversal kit containing naloxone and instructions on how to use it.

Four Rivers senior Allie Martin said she particularly enjoyed learning about how to identify an opioid overdose and the hands-on training portion of the day.

“It’s like all these things that we can use and that can really make a difference for someone in need of help,” Martin said. “[Ahern] came in for three hours and did a lot of talking about being trauma-informed, and how to go about identifying somebody experiencing an overdose and steps to go through to administer Narcan. … It had a big effect on everybody.”

Noting that CPR certification now requires overdose response training, Ahern said she was glad the students were given instruction on rescue breathing, noting that the presence of substances such as the non-opioid sedative xylazine in the drug supply necessitates the need for students to learn overdose reversal techniques other than just Narcan administration.

“We do a lot of teaching in that training about opioids and also what’s in the drug supply, so they know that if you’re responding to an overdose and there’s xylazine in the product, naloxone is only going to take away the opioid, but they’re still going to have that sedation, and they may not be breathing still because of the xylazine,” Ahern said. “That’s why it’s super important to do the rescue breathing until help arrives, and those students got it. They understood.”

Ahern added that the students showed curiosity and diligence in learning about the topic, noting that many shared that their friends or family members had experienced addiction or an overdose.

Tudryn echoed Ahern’s remarks, noting the importance of opioid reversal training and the high level of engagement that the students exuded throughout the three-hour session. She said she hopes similar seminars will be held in the future.

“The students were fantastic,” Tudryn said. “They all wanted us to be there, they all wanted to learn. They all participated in the hands-on portion. They were all very engaged.”

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.