Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District Partnered with County of Santa Clara to Bring Fentanyl Awareness Event to Community
VIDEO & RECORDINGS:
Recording of Event
Agenda:
- Opening Remarks Presentation
- Danger of Opioids Presentation
- District Attorney's Role in Fighting Opioids
- Loss of a Loved One
- Combating Opioid Epidemic in Santa Clara County
- Narcan Training
- Closing Remarks
Songs for Charlie - Real Talk about Fentanyl (Presentation Given to Students)
Los Gatos, October 11, 2022: The Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District has partnered with the County of Santa Clara’s Opioid Overdose Prevention Project and local law enforcement to bring a Fentanyl Awareness event to the community in order to raise awareness among parents and students of a dangerous epidemic that has made its way into the region. Open to parents and students from throughout the Bay Area, this important event will take place on Thursday, October 20, 2022 from 6:00pm - 8:00pm at the Los Gatos High School theater, as well as through a virtual webinar format here.
With opening remarks from Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian, panelists will include both medical and law enforcement professionals who will speak on the addiction, treatment, and prevention of fentanyl use. Additionally, parents from the community who have lost a child to fentanyl poisoning will share their stories.
“Student health and well-being is at the center of what this district is about,” said Bill W. Sanderson, Superintendent of the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District. “Our responsibility as a district is not only student learning but ensuring that these students have the mental health support and services they need so they don’t turn to substance abuse. One fatality from fentanyl poisoning is too many and it is our hope that this event will educate both students and families about what’s taking place right in this community.”
All attendees of this event will receive a Narcan kit, a medication that is used to reverse an opioid/fentanyl overdose, and if administered timely, can prevent a death.
About Fentanyl
Historically, fentanyl is a synthetic opioid used only by medical professionals to provide pain relief to patients. When properly administered, it produces effects such as relaxation, drowsiness, and respiratory depression. When used in uncontrolled amounts via counterfeit pills or powder, it will slow respiration, reduce blood pressure, cause fainting and seizures, and can stop the heart and respiratory system entirely.
Non-prescription fentanyl, which is being put into counterfeit pills and powder form, is being sold to the public and killing thousands of Americans each year. In 2020, the CDC reported that 24,576 people died in the U.S. from fentanyl-related overdoses. In 2021, that number jumped to 71,238. In 2022, we expect death tolls from overdoses to precipitously increase. Law enforcement is seizing MILLIONS of counterfeit pills coming over the border containing enough fentanyl to kill hundreds of thousands of people.