After Boy's Fatal Overdose, Black Horse Pike Bus Drivers Now Have Naloxone Kits

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ — Nearly two years after a boy's fatal overdose on a Gloucester Township school bus, local school districts have a potentially lifesaving tool: naloxone kits for bus drivers.

Five school systems, including the Black Horse Pike Regional School District, have joined the Camden County initiative. So far, 164 school bus drivers have been trained to administer the medication, which can reduce or reverse the effects of opioids.

Officials hope to place the tool in every Camden County school and on every school bus in the county.

The initiative came after a 12-year-old boy became unresponsive on a school bus in Gloucester Township on Jan. 24, 2022. Eight days later, the child died at the hospital from fentanyl intoxication, authorities said. Two people, including the boy's uncle, have been charged in relation to his death. Read more: Uncle Charged After NJ Boy Fatally Overdoses On School Bus

To prevent similar incidents from becoming fatal, Camden County needs naloxone "in every corner of our community," said County Commissioner Director Louis Cappelli Jr.

"Unfortunately, we know that it is possible to lose a child to overdose in a school setting — and most recently on a school bus," Cappelli said Tuesday, "so distributing these kits and training school staff is a measure we must take to keep our children safe."

Public officials, law enforcement and members of the county’s Addiction Awareness Task Force distributed kits Tuesday to bus drivers at Triton Regional High School. Camden County districts participating in the school bus initiative currently include Black Horse Pike, Eastern Camden County Regional, Winslow, Pennsauken and Camden County Technical Schools.

In 2017, Black Horse Pike became the county's first school district to equip its nurses with the medication. Since then, the district's Highland High School was the area's first school to install a NaloxBox, which contains readily available naloxone. The district is now the county's first to train its bus drivers in administering the substance.

"We hope to never have to use it on our students or staff," said Superintendent Dr. Brian Repici, "but if there is an overdose, we know we have a lifesaving antidote that can be accessed for the opportunity to render aid and save a life."

Anyone seeking addiction assistance can call 1-844-ReachNJ (732-2465), which provides free professional support for those facing addiction and their loved ones. Camden County residents with substance use disorder can call the Office of Mental Health and Addiction at 856-374-6361.