Narcan pens for kids to use on parents?

allnurses Guide · Oct 6, 2016

Interesting.

Unfortunately our system doesn't seem to work that way, and kids ARE left in unsafe situations.

There are SO many drug users out there with young children.

I almost think it's a good idea.

Sour Lemon · Oct 6, 2016

You might have seen this latest news about a 7 yr old youngster who told the bus monitor that her parents wouldn't wake up for 2 days and were "changing color"
Parents Found Dead After Child Tells School She Couldn't Wake Them Up - ABC News
If you watch the video you'll see someone advocating that kids be taught to use a Narcan pen on their parents.
Excuse me? Shouldn't kids be put into a safer environment when healthcare workers suspect heroin use by parents? We now expect a 7 yr old, who is probably already caring for the 3 younger siblings in this case, to monitor the parents for excessive sleepiness and not breathing enoughness. Are the kiddos supposed to do hourly rounds too?

Ridiculous. That's putting way too much responsibility on a child ...and possibly lifelong guilt when they fail to save the parent that they've been trained to monitor and intervene for.

Emergent, RN · Oct 6, 2016

Interesting.
Unfortunately our system doesn't seem to work that way, and kids ARE left in unsafe situations.
There are SO many drug users out there with young children.
I almost think it's a good idea.

Then, the parents stay alive and continue to zone out and the kids live off of cheetos and pop. The kids hit the streets in early teens, have an above average amount of kids of their own, creating an exponential growth in the burden on society portion of the population. The sins of the fathers visited upon the sons and the taxpayers foot the bill.

martymoose, BSN, RN · Oct 6, 2016

so sad

Emergent, RN · Oct 6, 2016

Ridiculous. That's putting way too much responsibility on a child ...and possibly lifelong guilt when they fail to save the parent that they've been trained to monitor and intervene for.

It exemplifies the utter failure of our child welfare system, and the societal decay that is destroying us from within.

Forget about the dangers of terrorism, ISIS, illegal immigration, and any other political bogey man created to whip up the masses. WE are our own worst enemies.

BabyFood26 · Oct 6, 2016

I can say from personal experience, I fear I would have been absolutely scarred if I had to do that. As a child caring for my infant brother while my mom was at work and my dad was in lala land... I mean the experience of having to be so grown up at such a young age is traumatizing enough. Then add the pressure of making sure Dad doesn't die and you're the only one with the life saving pen around? Holy moly... what are they thinking?? Part of my recovery and ability to survive in that situation was that I was too young to grasp the severity of what we were all going through. Kids need to remain innocent and naive to a point. It protects against traumatization. I really hope they don't go through with this! :sour:

A side note... he did eventually OD and die. And I'm glad that it wasn't up to me to save his life. No matter how selfish that sounds, that should NOT be on the shoulders of a kid. Teach 'em 911... they got enough on their plate...

Emergent, RN · Oct 6, 2016

Wow, Babyfood! You are a testimony! You rose above such adversity!

allnurses Guide · Oct 6, 2016

Ok, it's not a good idea.

smf0903 · Oct 6, 2016

Nope, nope, nope. Aside from the ick factor for some little one to have to save mom or dad who are ODing on the bathroom floor, I wonder how something like that would even be feasible? Mom and/or dad would have to either show the kiddo how to administer--and let'a face it, how many addicts want to be shown how to crash their high?--or mom and/or dad are going to have to take kiddo somewhere, openly admit they are users, and hey can you teach my kid how to save me when I OD...I don't see that happening.

Carfentanil has made its way to our neck of the woods. Police blotters are making people realize that there are going to be a pluthera of deaths from this. Blotters are reporting first responders administering 20+ doses of naloxone on people they find. That's for one person. How could a child be expected to try to deal with ramifications of such a powerful drug?

KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN · Oct 6, 2016

I had to teach my little one at the age of 6 how to shoot mom with Epipen and what to do if she goes into anaphylaxis. It was an absolutely, profoundly heart-tearing experience for both of us. I wished with all my heart that there would be some other choice but there was none. When it did happen, my little girl did everything all right but literally collapsed right after and was physically sick from stress for weeks. That was a child regularly exposed to high-stress enviroinment like international travel. When the year before in Israel we were ordered out of the hotel at the middle of the night and military operation was going around, she was less scared.

IMHO, no. Just NO. No child should be entrusted with that sort of responsibility. Besides, assuming the Narcan works but not enough, what should kid do then? A child cannot access breathing, secure airway, move the body into right position. I would understand teaching high-schoolers to do it all because at least some of them already got brains to learn algorithm and apply ut consciously. But children before 12? The most they can be taught is to get the phone and call 911, or ask any uniformed adult for help.

elkpark · Oct 6, 2016

Put the kids in what "safer environment"? Foster care? The foster care system is already swamped and plenty of kids are getting abused and/or "lost" in the foster care system now. Group homes? Where?